Em & Trev: Happy New Year, China!

Sunday, February 25, 2007

Happy New Year, China!

Yes, this is Thailand, but the Thais have never met a festival they didn't like, and there are a lot of ethnic Chinese living here, so they do it up pretty well here in Hat Yai. Chinese New Year was actually last weekend, but here it stretches into a week-long celebration, culminating today (pictures). We kicked off the day at dawn with a dragon- and shrine-filled parade, followed by a yummy dim-sum breakfast, and some crazy firecracker dancing at P Noot's Car Care business (video 1 - above, and video 2).

The teams of shrine carriers from the parade spend the day going from place to place around the city blessing homes and businesses by dancing madly around under a super-long string of exploding firecrackers. Noisy and smoky, but fun to watch. Mid-day we all retreated from the heat, then regrouped for an evening at the festival. Many of the men who hauled shrines around all day turned up for fire walking (video). A bed of hot coals was prepared in front of the Chinese temple, and participants raced across singly or in groups with their shrines. Most ran at a dead sprint (can't say I blame them) but those that went at a more deliberate pace got bigger cheers from the crowd. Afterward, we saw a lot of men and boys limping around very gingerly, and one being carried by his friends. Welcome, year of the fire pig.

Labels: Chinese New Year, Hat Yai, Thailand