The Year of the Tiger is here, and I was in Xi’an to celebrate with my Chinese family. Tyler and I rolled into the Xi’an train station at about 8:30 AM and immediately  decided we needed to find some breakfast. Unfortunately, due to the holiday, this wasn’t the easiest thing to do as many of the street vendors who sell wonderful breakfast foods were shut down for the holiday. We decided to take a couple quick bus hops to my buddy’s favorite Hu La Tang place for breakfast. Hu la tang is a spicy beef-stew with a slightly slimy consistency due to the corn-starch added to it. We both enjoyed a nice bowl with bread and a bottle of bing feng (a local orange soda) for breakfast. Soon after we caught the 336 bus back to my school in north Xi’an. Upon arrival, we got settled, made up a bed for Tyler and showered before going out in search of some lunch.

Later in the afternoon my dad came to pick us up from my school and take us downtown to my grandparent’s home where we’d be spending the holiday. Along the way we stopped at a small fireworks vendor on the street corner. The amount and size of the fireworks was quite impressive! Sure, I’ve seen a lot of fireworks at warehouse sellers around July 4th, but these fireworks, they were huge! Apparently the biggest fireworks vendors are able to legally sell, at least in North Dakota, are 500 grams or less, due to safety concerns. Well, China has none of that. There were very large items for sale, many large canister-style munitions weighing in at 3000+ grams were for sale, for less than 200 Yuan (about $30). We bought a few big ones, and a large string of firecrackers for later in the evening.

After arriving at my grandparents’ home, my parents showed me how to put up the traditional signs that hang around and on top of the front door of most homes, these signs speak of good luck in the new year to all who enter the home. I also put some traditional Chinese paper cuts up on the windows for decoration. These are things  that small children usually enjoy shortly before the holiday, but since this was my first Chinese new year, it was almost as if my 24 year old self had turned 5 again. After putting up the paper cuts, my parents and grandparents gave Tyler and I our hongbao, a red envelope filled with money, which the older generation traditionally give to the younger generation at Spring Festival time, rather than actual presents.

Around 6 PM my family walked to a nearby restaurant for our New Year’s Eve dinner, where we had had reservations for nearly two months. At the dinner was me, Tyler my parents, my grandparents, my cousin, my other cousin’s husband (He Chao), and his parents. The meal was delicious as always, but who knows, that could’ve been my thought after consuming a large amount of baijiu. He Chao, told me I had to toast every person at the table individually with a shot of baijiu, so 9 people. But that was after, Tyler, He Chao, and I had gone shot-for-shot through one bottle of baijiu already. I was barely able to make it around the table. Fortunately I’m pretty sure I did much better that Tyler. After a lively stumble home, we went outside to play with fireworks along with some of the other children in the apartment complex. We had a great time, drank some beer, and blew things up. I guess you’re supposed to stay up pretty late on New Year’s eve, but by about midnight I was wiped out from the lack of sleep the previous night and a good amount of baijiu.

The next day I awoke at 9 AM, like I do nearly everyday, and was greeted with a “Xinnian kuaile!” (“Happy New Year!”) and a bowl of dumplings. Wonderful breakfast! We spent a good part of the day visiting with relatives and family friends who would come over a few hours during the day. Similar to relatives stopping by on Christmas day back home. We ate some good home-cooked food, played a lot of mahjong, and watched TV most of the day. Most of the family members who’ve never really met me were all impressed that I can actually play Chinese Mahjong since they apparently consider it a tough game to master. I’m no master, but I can hold my own without giving away too much money!

Tyler and I spent the remaining days in Xi’an going shopping, hanging out with friends and visiting the important attractions around the city like the Terracotta Warriors, the city wall, the Big Wild Goose Pagoda, Muslim street, etc. Evenly spaced out with some drinking excursions to nearby bars (that were actually open!) and a visit to Club Salsa. After 5 days in Xi’an, we left again, this time for warmer weather in Guangzhou.

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