恭喜发财! 新年快乐! to those who celebrates Chinese New Year! For obvious reasons, this is the first time in my life where I don’t get any red envelops ^^;. Still… hope  this year will be a lucky one for me as well. And you also. Red envelopes aside, I figured there would probably be some New Year festivities in Kobe’s Nankinmachi so off I went with a few friends to check out what’s hot.

True enough… there was “Spring Festival” going on for the week. Fortune telling, New Year specials, and all sorts of stuff going on with tsunami of people flowing through the + shape Chinatown. Many guards and city officers were on duty trying to control traffic but most of their pleas were largely ignored by the crowds ^^;. Hey look! a female Son Wukong and Piggy!

Traffic was directional from one end to the other and you can’t just stop.. the wave of people will force you to keep walking until you are bumped out of the town ^^;.

Dried persimmons! and… dried potatoes?

That… crowd…

More of the usual Chinatown fare.

小籠包 (I forgot how the Japanese pronounce it but I think it’s shoulonpao) and err… I know the Chinese name for the two giant dumplings but not in English ^^;. Just a snack. Many of the food stalls have lines that stretches out far and around buildings, it was a miracle to even be able to buy food without being washed away by people.

 

Wayyyyy too crowded to see any of the lion dance, and with the crowds continuously flowing, I couldn’t even get a decent shot :(

From what I snapped up with my camera held up high, it looked amazing enough though.

“Bruce Lee” joining in on the festivities also.

Didn’t get to really see anything but it was still nice to be out on a sunny day and do some more exploring. For those who celebrate this New Year, how did your day go? :)