HAPPY NEW YEAR!

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As those of you that have read Synesthesia know, some of the action in the book takes place in China. If you regularly follow this blog, you also know that I have been traveling to China on a pretty frequent basis.

This coming Friday marks the start of the traditional Chinese New Year. China used to follow a lunar calendar and the Chinese New Year still follows this reckoning.

The tracking and celebration of Chinese New Year are at least as old as the 14th century B.C. when the Shang Dynasty was in power. Oracle bones that date to that time period have been found inscribed with astronomical records

In modern history, beginning in 1949, under the rule of Chinese Communist Party leader Mao Zedong, the government forbade the celebration of the traditional Chinese New Year and followed the Gregorian calendar in its dealings with the West. This changed near the end of the 20^th Century, and the government became more willing to accept the Chinese tradition. In 1996, China instituted a weeklong vacation during the holiday, changing the name to Spring Festival, and gave people the opportunity to travel home and to celebrate the new year.

What this means is, China basically shuts down for a week! If you are a business, all of your workers are off, and nothing moves through customs. People tend to travel to their original cities and villages to be with family and celebrate. There is also a televised Spring Festival Gala, a variety show featuring traditional and contemporary singers, dancers and magic demonstrations that many spend time watching. All of this while doing the most important feature of Spring Festival; feasting on traditional foods, especially long noodles (meant to represent long life.)

China, in fact, much of Asia, plays a large role in the upcoming fifth book of the Senses Novels series, Seventh Sense.

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I hope that you have a wonderful and blessed week ahead!

KM