Gong Xi Fa Cai! (Happy New Year!)

It is officially the first day of the year of the Dog; stores are closed and the only thing in the streets in town are expats, tourists, and multitudes of small bands banging drums and clashing cymbals while a 4-person dragon dances, twists, and writhes around scaring evil spirits away!

The Chinese believe that making a helluva racket will chase the bad spirits away... This "racket" has a simplistic beauty that my western ears simply cannot appreciate yet and so, like those evil spirits, it has me running in the opposite direction whenever I spy a dragon band headed my way. This has brought a whole new meaning to "bringing in the New Year with a bang"!

It is an interesting experience for about 10 minutes but then it really just feels like listening to toddlers attempting rhythm while clanging together pots and pans. I wonder if, like broccoli, I will eventually develop a taste for it.....