Despite living in China almost 20 years I usually make a bee line out of the place at Lunar New Year, not this year though with me deciding to do Chinese New Year in Shenzhen.
What though was it like? Is it the hell that people make it out to be and how do you survive New Year in Shenzhen?
The Build Up to New Year in Shenzhen
As much like Christmas in the Philippines (and other places) there is a real build up to Chinese New Year in Shenzhen (and other places in China). This involves lots of New Year based signage, as well as pop-up stalls like the Russian Market I have previously talked about.
There is also a slow countdown to people leaving the city and things slowly, but surely closing. This is a very weird surreal feeling and site because the closer to Chinese New Year in Shenzhen you get, the more like an actual ghost town it becomes.
Chinese New Year in Shenzhen – New Years Eve
By the time you get to New Years eve things are about as closed as they will ever get and people are gearing up for midnight. What happens at midnight? Well in the old days there would be stalls on every Chinese street selling fireworks. Alas things would explode every year and this is no longer the case.
Therefore the fireworks show is no longer what it used to be, at midnight anyway, at least in Shenzhen. I remember being in Xian almost 20 years ago and it looked like being in a war zone. Now it does not. The fireworks though do still get set off over the next 3 days and all while few in number are done all fecking night. I think on New Years Day I was kept up from 11 pm to 6 am by fireworks being set off from the windows of my office.
Is Everything Closed at Chinese New Year in Shenzhen
Back in the day quite literally everything closed during Chinese New Year, with you even having to stock up on water, or cigarettes before the big closure, but this is npc longer the case. I would say in Shenzhen at least that perhaps 10 percent of shops and restaurants stayed open over Chinese New Year, which randomly even included my opticians.
OK, so this is not exactly offering great choice, but it is more than enough for you to survive without having to cook. Other “older” cities are a little different, but overall you have to say that Chine is more commercial these days. Communism with Chinese Characteristics eh!
Traveling Shenzhen during Chinese New Year
One thing that has not changed about Chinese New Year is just how hard it is to travel during this time. Lunar New Year marks the biggest mass migration of people on freaking earth and this cannot be dismissed. This meant that travel options OUT of Shenzhen were expensive (flights) or sold out (trains to basically everywhere – save my trip to Shanwei.
This is because people are leaving Shenzhen en-masse. The flip side of this though is that getting into Shenzhen is both easy and cheap as very few people are heading in that direction. And then when you get to New Years Eve and New Years day then travel to anywhere is cheap as it is analogous to Christmas Eve and Day in the Jesus loving world.
So, overall I have to stay I quite enjoyed Chinese New Year in Shenzhen, if nothing else because it was quiet and I was not expected to go and see a Chinese family. I did though at least some dumplings, so at least some traditions were upheld.