The Best of Both Worlds

Last night was the infamous Chinese New Year celebration. All of China comes together with their celebratory firearmor and simutaneously lights them one after another. The result you might wonder? Let's get this mental picture: You're seeing and hearing the finale to the 4th of July firework performance and everyone is clapping and cheering. Yet after 10 minutes of exhuberant applause, everyone looks at each other realizing the same thing "Let's save our voices and energy, this is not stopping anytime soon".

This is my second year of marveling at the firework display. The awe factor of the "never-endingness" of the celebration was a bit less dramatic, yet my experience was given a new perspective. Since the tradition of staying at the hotel was still alive and well, we were able to get the best of both worlds. We could watch from the 10th floor witnessing the fireworks literally at point of explosion while getting a more "ear-protecting" muffled sound. Or we could run out onto the street in an adrenaline rush filled with "on the scene" energy and excitement. I felt like a little kid running from one activity to the next "Now let's do this! And now that!". Even when you give adults a variety of stimulating activities, we all react the same....unless we are so tired from trying to stay awake until midnight that the only energy left is "Wow......cool."

I was able to actually capture a few pictures of the fireworks that were hitting our window that night. While you may think to yourself that it is just a picture with the flash glaring off from the window, it is actually the middle of the firework exploding inches from our faces. Enjoy!

I took quite a few videos from the night, but the internet is being stubborn and won't upload them. Once I figure that out, I will share with you all!