新年快乐！Happy New Year!

Well, it's New Year's Eve here (Jan 25). We're about to usher in a new year-the year 4707! :)

So, to honor the occasion, I thought I'd give you a taste of Spring Festival (New Year's is during the Spring Festival)

Lanterns are everywhere. They can be found hanging along the street, in doorways, along sidewalks, in homes, restaurants, stores.

This is what I see at night from my living room window. In the city there are a lot of rules and regulations regarding fireworks, so they aren't nearly as frequent or numerous as in other cities I have lived in, but I still enjoy having a glittering skyline.

This is the year of the Ox...so, I thought I'd show you a few New Year's greetings as well:

I'll be celebrating with some American friends who live outside the city. We'll eat dumplings and other goodies, stay up til midnight, when we'll go out and watch fireworks!