It may be the most exciting time of year for Chinese people but for foreigners in China it’s akin to being Muslim in the UK at Christmas. I hate it – everything is closed, people have gone back to the villages and my mates have gone to exotic places leaving me alone. However after 4 Spring Festivals I swore I would never do another one in China. I am pleased to say I am leaving on Friday for Abu Dhabi and then the UK for a bit of warmth and fresh air.
The only thing I quite like about the Spring Festival is the sense of excitement that you find around the train stations and today it was noisy and good-natured, children running around, men sitting on piles of bags, people clutching or dragging HUGE bags full of goodness knows what – back to their home villages. The train was noisy too – not in a bad way, but people chatting and laughing and children running up and down the aisle.
In fact I was a little regretful that I wasn’t going back to some tiny village in Sichuan Province (home town of the Pandas!).