Fire Power

To properly herald in the new year, a few things are required. Some blow torches, a box of fireworks as big as your washing machine, and a whole lot of nerve compose the bare essentials. Ear plugs would help, but no one uses them.

At midnight, on the eve of the lunar new year, most Chinese families are outside watching a firework show. I was lucky enough to witness the Chan family fireworks, put on at the local community center.

This twenty minute show included six insane Chinese men who barely got away with all their limbs. I was only ten feet away from the blast off area and I actually got hit in the ear with some shrapnel. Luckily it was only a bit of concrete rock, and nothing hot enough to leave a burn. I’m thankful to have my ear, but my hearing is not what it used to be.

Being so close to the action, and seeing the reckless use of fireworks and blowtorches, I now understand a few more things about Chinese culture:

There are beggars on the street who have missing or burned limbs. I now have a guess as to how they arrived at this state.

I realize why some Chinese men talk very loudly on their cell phones in public. I’ll be doing the same thing for at least the next week.

Other trends among Chinese men include short hair and quick body movements. If purposefully holding a blowtorch in the proximity of explosives doesn’t create a quick body, it will surely keep your hair short.

And there is finally a practical purpose for every building being made of concrete.

Who knew that 20 minutes of insanity could explain so much!