Well, the Chinese New Year is trotting right up. The Spring Festival runs for two weeks, beginning on New Year's Eve - which is the night of the first full moon after the winter solstice - and ending (with the Lantern Festival) on the full moon thereafter. (Why they call it the Spring Festival is a mystery to me, since it's not spring anywhere in China.) This holiday is the main one in China, and is on the order of Christmas (minus the completely rampant materialism, the religion, and the tree). The schools in China are now on their winter break, which lasts about a month. (Other workers get a government-mandated week off.) This is the big time of year for people to travel long distances to get together with family.

And let me just say, before I forget, that I love the idea of holidays tied to the cycles of the moon. It's romantic and agrarian and mystical all at once. Anything that gives you a reason to go look at the moon is a winner in my book . . .

But anyway. The New Year falls on January 26th this year, which makes the 25th New Year's Eve. Apparently (as I learned in Chinese class last night) the national Chinese television station (CCTV) broadcasts a special show that evening. In class, I likened it to Americans watching the ball drop in Times Square, but my teacher quickly corrected me: It's a lot more impressive than that. In recent years, it's become the custom for families to watch the show together, and it really takes on the status of a shared cultural moment. Performers consider it a great honor to be on this show, and will perform gratis because it's a career-maker.

Our teacher showed us the video clip I've linked to below. The performers are all deaf/mutes, which makes the whole thing even more incredible. It's another case of the Chinese orchestrating a bunch of people to create something beautiful:

CCTV video

Enjoy!