When it comes to internationally recognized holidays, Chinese Lunar New Year in Hong Kong isn’t alone.

Oktoberfest in Germany and Carnival in Brazil are both widely known. Yet, in 2011, Forbes listed the International Chinese New Year Parade as one of the top 10 best annual events of the year. For obvious reasons, I was very excited to be in Hong Kong for the beginning of the festival this week.

You may have seen Lunar New Year celebrations in the Chinatown closest to you — the ones in China are just a little bit bigger. The Lunar New Year, or the Spring Festival, as it is sometimes called, is China’s largest holiday. Celebrations last for two weeks and decorations start going up at least a month in advance.

Like many holidays in the United States, most locals use the holiday as an opportunity to visit family and eat food. Most shops and restaurants shut down for two or three days, and those that stay open often operate on a limited timetable. This posed a problem for us study abroad students, who wanted to celebrate the holiday like the locals do but, for the most part, do not have any family here.

We managed to figure it out. Through some research, we learned about a big parade on the first night of the festival, which was an awesome experience. There was dragon dancing, lion dancing and performances by local dance troupes, bands and floats.

As I am less than five feet tall, I wanted to get there early to make sure I could see. We got there two hours before the parade, and it was already packed. After managing to find a spot and enjoying the pre-parade entertainment, which included a band and a lot of people dressed up as various Star Wars characters, the parade itself still lasted two hours.

But my favorite activity for the New Year only lasted about 20 minutes. On New Year’s Day, we went to a temple about a block or two away from where we live in a very residential neighborhood. It was packed with people praying for good fortune in the coming year. They lit incense and had their fortunes read by the fortune tellers at the temple, bowing before the statues on the altar. It was beautiful to watch.

In the days leading up the New Year, I bought some traditional decorations, which I hope I will be able to keep for a long time. They offer uplifting wishes for good fortune and provide good memories for me of the time I spent here.

There are lot of other events for Chinese New Year too. On the second night, the city hosts a legendary fireworks show. Unfortunately, I missed that because I was flying to Thailand, which brings me to the other dilemma we as a study abroad group faced.

We get a week off of classes for Chinese New Year, and it is by far our longest break of the semester. Since most of us are interested in traveling through Asia, we wanted to take advantage of the break, but we did not want to miss Chinese New Year. Unfortunately, prices increased exponentially if we waited until after the New Year to leave.

For me, the choice was easy. I know that I would always regret it if I studied abroad in Hong Kong and was not in China for Chinese New Year. So, I stayed in Hong Kong for the first day and then left.  The celebrations continue for two weeks, so we caught the beginning and will return for the end of the festival, just what I wanted.

After all these experiences and ones left to come, Chinese New Year is just one item on a growing list of “once-in-a-lifetime experiences” that I am starting to cultivate.

Claire Moran is a junior broadcast and digital journalism and international relations dual major. Her column appears weekly in Pulp. She can be reached at clmoran@syr.edu. 

Published on February 10, 2016 at 8:32 pm