Spring Festival

Pictures say a thousand words? Here's my Spring Festival (Chinese New Year) in pictures:

This little boy, a relative of my friend Wu Yu (see below) became my best friend. He let me light firecrackers with him and invited me to spend the night at this house. I named him Charlie.

Burning "paper" in honor of ancestors.

I guess it's a Spring Festival tradition, and it was a nice tradition to experience. This is the grave of my waipo's husband. My host family asked me to throw some paper on the fire because waigong (grandpa) was a very open person.

A little girl lighting firecrackers on top of a Meishan roof. This was easily the best part of my Spring Festival experience. I can't quite desribe what it's like to have a 6 hour, non stop, 360 degree fireworks show. The only way I can describe it is a pyrotechnic symphony.

Host sister, host mom, and me eating the midnight Spring Festival meal--complete with the obligatory dumplings. Yum.

Wu Yu and her husband Tony. After lunch with the family, we went bowling.

More of Wu Yu's family. For two days these people welcomed me to spend time with them as if I was one of their family. The first day, nai nai (the woman to my right) hosted a majiang and tea day/retreat. The second day, ye ye (the man to my left) took us all out for lunch.

Stay tuned for pictures from my Yunnan trip.