It is half way through January already and we have already said goodbye to 2010 and hello to 2011. We are however also walking in the final shadows of the year of the Tiger, and the 4th of February sees the start the Year of the Rabbit.
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| Resilience |
We love the Chinese New Year celebrations. They are bright and colourful and involve 15 days of ritual culminating in Fireworks to scare off the dead old year ghosts and allow the new year spirits to come in and start a fresh. There have been a lot of alliances happening with China and the UK since January too so somehow this new year seems even more positively auspicious for the UK. Here in Edinburgh alone we will have 2 beautiful Pandas being introduced in the hope that they will have babies which will be wonderful and will renew hope that we can see more of these beautiful creatures multiply.
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| Back and forth |
The stories around the superstitions and beliefs are really fascinating and it is something that in the East they take very seriously and it is something that we too join in because it is so lovely and fun and I think any excuse to celebrate and participate in something that brings joy, colour and hope is always a great thing.
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| Jewel of the sea |
We spent Chinese New Year a few years ago in New York which was great. Chinatown celebrated it by celebrating firecrackers and were allowed to set them off for the first time in over 10 years since the tragedy of 9/11 and that too in itself was very meaningful and symbolic giving hope that New York felt safe enough to allow this. There was confetti and shades of red and gold everywhere and it was so joyous you couldn't help but feel happy involved in all the festivities and celebrations.
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| Gold coins are found in buried the sea |
So as the sun sets on another year, this time the Year of the Tiger, it is time to start making preparations to make sure that the Year of the Rabbit is one fantastic.
