A Ghost Town

It's Chinese New Year. Of the 20 million people in Beijing probably a third have left town to see their families and the other two thirds are holed-up inside eating, drinking and watching TV for several days. This means the roads are pretty empty, a rarity that is worth enjoying on our bikes! Most restaurants have closed for 2 days, and a lot of shops too. It just shows how seriously the Chinese take tradition -visiting friends and family, giving gifts and feasting.

Some anecdotal proof that China is getting richer: there are way less firecrackers this year and much more actual fireworks (which are more expensive). Further proof comes from the stacks and stacks of fruit in fancy boxes that are piled up in supermarkets and on carts on street corners ready for purchase - fruit is one of the various things (along with money, alcohol and sweets) that are given as gifts when going to friends for meals at this time, but since winter is not a good season for fruit, a lot of it is imported and thus expensive but this is not a barrier any more. Further evidence comes from the huge amounts of wine that the Chinese are buying from supermarkets for the occasion as well. Though much of it is still cheap, there is still the strong desire to buy the most expensive (or expensive-looking) bottle to impress business partners (who it is also customary to visit over the week-long festival).

The one time people leave their houses is to go to Fairs, which in theory are called Temple Fairs, and are supposed to take place at Temples, but now tend to take place in parks and revolve around eating snacks, playing games (the kind that you can win prizes from) and buying stuff (mostly crap). Tens of thousands pile into these outdoor fairs every day leaving an insane amount of rubbish. Most of the food is fairly mundane, though some concoctions are a bit strange. Most of it comes on sticks or in plastic bowls. I hate to think how much the environment suffers, or the waistlines of the kids. Andrea and I quite enjoy seeing the awful attempts of boys to impress their girlfriends at the various stalls. Almost all fail miserably as the chances of winning anything apart from the tiniest teddy bear is insanely low. Doesn't stop them though...