Chinese New Year started on Sunday, January 25th to usher in the year of the ox. For New Years Eve, the 25th, it is tradition for sons to return to their parents house with their families. Taipei was left significantly more quiet than usual but certainly not dead. A majority of the shops were open around Zhongxiao Dunhua, Taipei's best fashion district, where some people spent the day browsing the boutiques or sitting in cafes with relatives.
I was fortunate to spend the later part of the evening at Chelsea's home with her relatives to take part in the Taiwan's most international past time: Gambling. We played a dice game that Taiwanese call "Xi Ba La". The "dealer" roles the dice and then faces off with the other players one at a time. If the dealer wins they receive the opponents wager, but if the dealer loses then they must pay the opponent the amount of their bet. At the end of the game, in testimony to the generosity of Taiwanese towards strangers, everyone made sure no one had lost too much money.
Chinese New Year is traditionally 15 days long and ends with something foreigners call the Lantern Festival. However, the vacation for most Taiwanese is only one work week. The word for ox, 牛 (pronounced niu), is also translated as cow. This year can be said as the year of the bull or ox.
Happy 牛 Year!
I was fortunate to spend the later part of the evening at Chelsea's home with her relatives to take part in the Taiwan's most international past time: Gambling. We played a dice game that Taiwanese call "Xi Ba La". The "dealer" roles the dice and then faces off with the other players one at a time. If the dealer wins they receive the opponents wager, but if the dealer loses then they must pay the opponent the amount of their bet. At the end of the game, in testimony to the generosity of Taiwanese towards strangers, everyone made sure no one had lost too much money.
Chinese New Year is traditionally 15 days long and ends with something foreigners call the Lantern Festival. However, the vacation for most Taiwanese is only one work week. The word for ox, 牛 (pronounced niu), is also translated as cow. This year can be said as the year of the bull or ox.
Happy 牛 Year!
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