Spring Festival and Lady Street

Spring Festival in Beijing has been...interesting. When our friends told us that there were going to be fireworks for 2 straight weeks, we thought they might be exaggerating. Turns out they weren't. The first night we expected that they were going to be crazy, and they were. They were also crazy on the second day, the second night, the third day, the third night...you get my point. On the sixth night at 1 am when my husband had to be at work the next morning and I just wanted to sleep, I had had about enough. Our best guess was that the fireworks stand right outside of our apartment complex was trying to empty their inventory. That is what it sounded like. There were no pauses for hours and they weren't even the pretty fireworks, they just shot up and made an impossibly loud noise, right by our 20th story window! My husband was saying last night that if there is anyone on earth addicted to fireworks, they need to be in Beijing during Spring Festival. They won't feel the same when they leave...I think thats called immersion therapy.

The one thing I have really liked about Spring Festival has been all of the decorations. I missed the heavily decorated streets of home during Christmas time, but now I realize that they decorate very similarly for Spring Festival. I love all the red and white lights! The only big difference is that along with the lights, there are tons of really beautiful lanterns. I haven't taken pictures yet at night, but I will soon.

Anyway, about Lady Street. My friend took my there today and I loved it. You walk to the inside portion and all you see are thousands of plants and every beautiful thing you could ever want. Glass blown vases, outdoor stone fountains, beautiful craved wood sculptures and TONS of plants and flowers. I recently watched an online video about how to "grow oxygen" inside your home to fight the awful pollution in Beijing, and it pretty much suggests that you tun your home into a greenhouse. So thats what I am going to do! As soon as we move into our new place and I buy all the plants, I will make sure and post pictures. I attached the link for the video so that anyone that's interested can watch it.  http://www.ted.com/talks/lang/eng/kamal_meattle_on_how_to_grow_your_own_fresh_air.html