Happy New Year China!

It's the week of celebration! This week friends and family in and from China are celebrating the arrival of the Year of the Pig. Last night was (in our opinion anyways...), the best night of them all as the sky was lit up with the best entertainment of them all - fireworks!

Since it was humanly impossible for any one of us to be at every show, we've gathered pictures and eye-witness accounts of the best of the best. So, grab your coffee, gather your friends, and sit back and enjoy these stills!

China's Central Television Spring Gala

You'd almost think you were in Canada based on all the red - but not so! China is also a proud bearer of the colour red, as well as gold, which together form their strong, yet gentle, country colours. It wouldn't have been a true Chinese New Year without showing off those colours!

Hong Kong's Pyro Musical

Over in Hong Kong, hundreds of thousands of people lined the streets to watch a 23-minute pyro musical, which again continued with the red and gold theme. They even had themed fireworks - pig snouts to truly welcome the Year of the Pig! In total 4.5 tonnes of fireworks were shot off of three barrages, all in all totaling HK 10 million dollars of fireworks, which works out to about $1.6 million CAD!

Sydney's Opera House

But wait, there's more! This wonderful celebration wasn't limited geographically to just China. There were shows all over the world, including at the Sydney Opera House in Australia! To honour their friends to the north, the Sydney Opera House glowed red and fireworks were lit above it to celebrate this grand occasion.

So what is the Chinese New Year anyways?

Not sure what all the excitement is about? Here's some fun facts about the Chinese New Year, why it's important to them, and why it's important to us too!

New Year's Eve (which was yesterday) is a day where families clean and declutter their homes, ready for a fresh start. Around dinner time, multiple generations of families come together for a huge feast. It's like our Thanksgiving or Christmas!

Around 8pm, about 700 million people tune in to the China Central Television Spring Festival Gala. Then at midnight (our favourite part!) multiple fireworks shows are lit, for celebration but also to ward off evil spirits.

During the few weeks surrounding this holiday most people have extended time off work. This allows time for what is most important in life - time with family to celebrate good fortune and a fresh start!

Happy New Year, China!