Celebrations for New Years here have been awesome!
Starting with some stunning decorations that have been all around the city for the past week or more... All red and yellow, colours representing luck, good fortune and joy.
According to a local newspaper, Chinese New Year is the largest annual human migration in the world. Every year Chinese people return to the their families and often to where they were born. I assumed this meant there would be fewer people in the city, but at the 'Lunar New Year Fair' we strolled through, there were still plenty of people around. (Various shots of the crowds).
Poor Foley didn't love the crowds, so we actually didn't last that long at the market.
We knew we wanted to see the fireworks, but after the chaos of the fair, we weren't sure how to deal with the crowds. It's also been quite chilly here... I know we have no right to complain being Canadians, and seeing chilling temperatures back home right now, but we came slightly ill equipped for the damp, cool days (approx. 10 degrees yesterday).... Foley's bright idea, watch the fireworks from his office tower... BRILLIANT. High, unobstructed views from the 36th floor of a downtown office building, and WARM. Thanks to the quick tutorials from Keith Binns, I played around with the aperture and shutter speed of my camera to produce the following pics.
Gung Hei Fat Choy!
Wow, these pictures are amazing!
ReplyDeleteThanks Shelbs! It has been pretty incredible material here... thinking of signing up for a proper photography course and getting a proper camera.... then look out!! These are all just with my (beloved) Canon point-and-click powershot.
DeleteHey Trish! Loving the Pictures and the Blog. I can't wait to show the fireworks to Johny -- he will LOVE them. What an experience this must be ... I can appreciate Mike's relunctance wit hthe crowds ... that would take quite a bit of getting used to. Hope your apartment set up is coming along. Take care and Hugs to you both! xo Stacey
ReplyDeleteThanks Stacey! :) Hugs to your family from us too.
DeleteIn fairness, I said Mike had issue with the crowds, but it wasn't super comfortable for either of us to be honest... it does take some getting used to. Because we are so much taller, it really does help, except when it rains cause then there's a million umbrellas waiting to poke either of us in the eye. funny, but true. We get our new apartment this weekend!! Whoot whoot! Will post more pics then.
Wow Trish AMAZING pics!;) I'm with Foley, I don't think I could hang out in that market for very long either. The pics really do make it seem that you are a GIANT taking pics of all the little people!:)
ReplyDeleteKeep up the GREAT work on the Blog!
HAhahaha!
DeleteOkay, yes, the crowds are insane, but you get used to it as long as you aren't trying to move quickly or go against the flow... (they had directional markers in the fair, do not enter and one way signs... hilarious when it's made for foot traffic, but it worked).
As for our GIANT status... I need to be honest here. Obviously I hold the camera above my head for most of these pics, but I also have grown very found of a feature called 'miniature mode' on my camera. It mades everything vibrant and mini... so that's why I seem GIANT. However, I am taller than the general population (this also makes crowds more bearable), I'm just not as huge as my camera tricks make me seem. :)