Happy New Year: Already and Not Yet
In which I mark the beginning of 2024 and look forward to the Year of the Dragon
On the path ahead of me was a dark figure practicing slow sword strokes in the grey murk, lit by the pale streetlights at the foot of the apartment building. I could hear the twin blades singing in the air as the swordsman swirled and poised. For a few moments it felt as if I had walked into an apocalyptic kung-fu movie. Then the swordsman moved to the side as I approached, and I saw him to be an older gentleman in a black martial arts suit, getting his evening exercise. Otherwise, the complex was quiet. I turned into the entrance for my colleague’s apartment block, where we were going to ring in the New Year with pizza and whisky.
The international calendar New Year is officially marked in China, with a public holiday on New Year’s Day and fireworks displays in the bigger cities. In Canal Town, not much was happening last night, other than people posting messages on WeChat with good wishes for 2024. There’s an air of ambiguity around saying “Happy New Year” on the 1st of January, though. It’s a new year in one calendar but not yet in the other, more ancient calendar here. The real celebration for the end of this year won’t be until early February, when the Year of the Rabbit gives way to the Year of the Dragon at the Spring Festival.
This in-between time is what I jokingly call the Already and Not Yet (echoing the theological concept). It’s a new year; but preparations for the lunar New Year are only just beginning. It’s a new year; but we still have a month to go before winter break begins. Two weeks of final exams for this past semester start tomorrow, and then, because Spring Festival is a bit later this year, we have two weeks of teaching for Semester 2 before we actually go on holiday.
Preparations have begun, though. Last weekend, when I walked through the historic heart of Canal Town, I saw that they had removed the giant lantern sculptures that had adorned the waterfront since last year’s Spring Festival. This weekend, passing through again, they were in the process of constructing the new sculptures. Intricate lanterns, big and small, are one of Canal Town’s cultural traditions. There is even a small gallery dedicated to lantern art in the old town. The huge artworks built each year for Spring Festival are a reflection of that: sweeping waves, pagodas, teapots, lotus blossoms, horned dragons, all constructed of colourful faux-silk fabric stretched over wire and lit from within. Last year, as well as the main installation, there was a flock of lantern parrots and insects in the trees. I’m looking forward to seeing what they have this year. I saw the newly-installed dragon yesterday, all red-and-gold scales and flowing whiskers, but the other displays were still under construction, the component sections being carted across the canal by three or four men perched on a raft made from nine oil drums in a metal frame.
I daresay I’ll write more about Spring Festival closer to the time. Today, I’m enjoying the day off, drinking tea and munching on the remains of the Christmas treats, reading my Christmas books, missing the hubbub of New Year in Scotland, wishing the air were a little less polluted (today is a day I don’t want to walk around outside without a mask), feeling thankful for the Already, looking forward to the Not Yet.
Bliadhna Mhath Ùr! Happy New Year! 新年快乐!
New to Canal Town? Start here for an introduction!
Miss my last post? Catch up below!