The Chinese really know how to celebrate. The New Year festival is one of the most important celebrations so they make it last as long as possible. New Year's Day was February 19 but there was a lot of ritual leading up to it. First you have to clean everything, your house, your car, your shop. It's important to sweep away all the bad luck and make room for the good.

There's all the preparation for the New Year's Eve dinner with the family, including all the ceremonial food. Then there's the firecrackers and fireworks all night long. There's significance to setting them off at midnight but there's nothing that says you can't supply yourself with enough to last the whole night. Children are encouraged to stay up because, according to legend, the longer they stay awake, the longer their parents will live.

New Year's Day also marks the beginning of the Lantern Festival, which lasts for 15 days. In Kaohsiung the Love River is the site for all these fanciful paper and silk lanterns on display. Every half hour during the evenings they put on a show on the river with water spouts and lights set to music, followed by fireworks at 9:00. This is every evening for two weeks. The Lantern Festival culminates with the full moon and people light candles and launch them into the sky in paper lanterns. The government is trying to discourage this because of the fire danger but in a country so enamored with firecrackers I can't imagine anyone giving up the opportunity to light something on fire.