China – February 2026
Celebrating the spring festival in China has always been one of the experiences I was curious about. So, when I receive the invitation to stay with Ella’s family, I had to say yes. I met the young girl at my hostel in Chengdu, where she works at the front desk. She helps me to book the ticket to her hometown and after a 2 nights stopover in Chongqing, I take a slow train north to Guang’an. Many people are travelling to their hometowns to visit their families for the festive season. So public transport is packed and I spend the 1.45-hour journey in the compartment near the door since I couldn’t get a seat reservation. Once I arrive at my destination, I still have 3 hours till Ella arrives from Chengdu. First, I look for a gift for my hosts. Usual presents include red envelopes with money (especially from parents/older relatives to kids), fruits, tea, alcohol, snacks, etc. The last-minute option around the station are somewhat limited, with many shops closed. A surprising find is the boxes of century eggs, which seem to be quite popular. But I’m more intrigued by the colourful packaging featuring horses (2026 zodiac) and lucky dragons.
Shopping done, I head back to the station and wait for Ella and José (another traveller we met in Chengdu) to arrive. Luckily, Ella’s parents are coming to pick us up at the train station, because it turns out the “small town” she told us about is not so small after all. We pass countless high-rise buildings on the way and finally find out that around 4 million people live in Guang’an when we arrive at her parent’s compound a good 40 minutes later. Here, the first signs of the spring festival are visible too: hung up at many of the apartment doors are decorative banners in red, featuring season’s greetings and more images of horses and dragons. Ella’s parent’s place is no exception. As soon as we enter the door on the top floor, her mom heads to the kitchen and at 15.30 proceeds to prepare bowls of noodles with cabbage and egg for us. This is the first of many opportunities for José to challenge his spice tolerance over the next 2 days. Someone switches on the TV in expectation for CCTV’s new year’s show to begin. During one of the red coloured horse themed ads, Ella’s grandparents arrive.
There is a little small talk before Ella, José and I head out to find fireworks and for the Spaniard to check into his hotel. While the latter is accomplished quickly, finding fireworks is harder than expected. It seems that the government put a ban on it. So many places only sell the explosives under the table. Nevertheless, to José and my surprise, the market at the main shopping street is as lively as any other day. We return to the apartment at around 18.15, and the dinner table is set shortly after. Ella’s parents prepared about 15 different dishes ranging from fried sweet potatoes to boiled corn, spicy pork, chicken feet and grilled fish. All of them delicious! Over dinner, conversations flow parallel in Chinese, English and Spanish. When everyone is stuffed, it’s decided to leave the leftover food in the bowls for good luck and Ella’s dad bring her grandparents back home. When he returns, he eagerly shares his homemade fruit liquor as a digestive. The CCTV NYE show keeps running in the background: a spectacle of huge stages across the country, Kung Fu robots, historical costumes and lots of augmented reality elements.
Then it’s time for traditional calligraphy. Since the characters are the same, I benefit from my previous practice in Japan. So, it’s time to upgrade and make it a little more artistic. We finish with variations of the characters for “Blessings”, “Horse” and “Fire”. At 23.30 we get ready for the final act of the night: lighting the fireworks without getting caught by the police. Already as we head out to look for a suitable spot, it becomes clear that they don’t pay too much attention – possibly due to the large number of explosions happening simultaneously across the neighbourhood. We find a good place near the river and alongside a couple families light our own magic candles and crackers at midnight. The provision is exhausted soon, and we’re heading home wishing everyone “Xinnienkuaile” or “Happy New Year”. Back at Ella’s compound, we observe some neighbours who chose a bad spot for fireworks. They light a pretty big fountain shaped explosive right next to a row of electric scooters and one of the baskets ends up catching fire.
On New Year’s Day, we wake up at 8.30 to watch the local parade. I really want to see the lion dance, and we end up running after the acts on the sidewalk since we’re late. But we finally catch the lions and dragons in a couple of places and then continue roaming around the town center to kill time before lunch. When we sit down in a place for a quick breakfast bite, the shop over offers José and I free century eggs, since we came from so far away. We thank him with our limited Chinese, that has now been enriched with “Xinnienkuaile”. The phrase comes in handy again during lunch with Ella’s extended family. Sichuan hot pot. 3 rooms have been reserved for the guests. Everyone chooses the table based on the soup ingredients: Chicken, spicy chicken, spicy beef, pork. We go for spicy beef and are joined by Ella’s dad, her niece & husband and a bunch of uncles who make sure our herbal liquor glasses are never empty (nor full!). After lunch we stroll around town again, looking for a place to meet Ella’s friends. We take pictures with local youths who don’t seem to see many foreigners, pet cute dogs, buy new pants for Ella cause hers rip (maybe they reached the expiration date, maybe too much food?), and finally we stop at the local fair with tea house vibes and small stalls offering typical games for kids (& José).
Back at parents’ house, we head up to the Mahjong room on rooftop. Ella and her friends teach us how to play and my Kanji knowledge comes in handy once again for the character pieces. After a few trial rounds I actually win once! Then someone announces dinner time. And guess what: more hot pot – probably my favourite one yet. The setting is at a roadside restaurant, where you pick ingredients displayed in bowls in a vitrine and pay as you eat. We choose a spicy and a clear broth. And everyone selects some veggies, innards and rice noodles for everyone to share. A few bites in, everyone agrees when José proceeds to ask the waitress for soy milk. Since Ella and her friends haven’t seen each other in a while, they don’t want to end the night here yet. So off we go to a bar which turns out to be a karaoke place. Many young people visiting their families spend the evening with childhood friends. Lots of beers and drunk singing included. At around 1am we finally head out and light the last fireworks in front of the main street.
The following morning, after a short night for us, we wake up to Ella’s mom preparing Tangyuan. A kind of mochi soup, that reminds me of the traditional Ozoni served on New Year’s Day in Japan. This marks the end of my stay in Sichuan. A little tired from the long days, I head to Guang’an Station by taxi to take another slow train to my next destination: Xi’an.
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