Chinese New Year Parade
Get a Passport to Celebrate the Chinese New Year
The Chinese New Year, or Spring Festival, is the most important festival celebrated by the Chinese. This year, the 15-day festival will begin on February 3rd, 2011. To the Chinese, the New Year is primarily a time to spend with family, celebrating with family gatherings, gifts, special foods and firecrackers.
Hong Kong and Beijing are both popular places to celebrate the Chinese New Year. In Hong Kong, special events to celebrate the occasion include the Chinese New Year Night Parade, the New Year’s Flower Markets, horse racing and an incredible fireworks display. The Night Parade features gorgeous floats with dancers performing the traditional lion and dragon dances. The flower markets are set up so that people can buy bunches of beautiful, sweet-smelling flowers to decorate their homes. Each type of flower is believed to bring its own special form of luck in the New Year. Betting on horse races is a popular way to test one’s newly acquired good luck.
In Beijing, New Year’s activities include temple fairs, Spring Festival concerts, and a lantern fair to celebrate the traditional Lantern Festival held on the 15th day of the New Year.
Chinese New Year celebrations are definitely worth experiencing for yourself, but you should be aware of some possible drawbacks. First, everybody, and I mean everybody, goes home for New Year’s. Expect trains and other public transportation to be very crowded. Also, hotels to tend to fill up, so book yours as soon as possible.
Finally, make sure you have the appropriate travel documents. You’ll need a passport with at least 6 months left on it before it expires. If you need to renew your passport or get a new one at this point, your best bet is to make an appointment at a regional passport agency office or use a private expediting company like RushMyPassport.
Also, while Chinese visas are not required for US citizens visiting Hong Kong, they are required if you want to set foot on mainland China.
About the Author
Alison Kroulek is a freelance writer and blogger with a focus on the travel industry.
City of Sydney Chinese New Year Twilight Parade
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