How to Celebrate Chinese New Year: Rabbit Edition

Welcome to the Rabbits. Happy Chinese New Year. Happy Lunar New Year. Happy New Year.

When you're as big, as wealthy, and as influential as China currently is, your specialized New Year is celebrated regionally. Actually, it's because most Cambodians have some Chinese origins. The public schools and most businesses close for the three day Chinese New Year even though the royal Cambodian government doesn't acknowledge it as an official holiday.

I didn't think Chinese New Year would be anything significant in Phnom Penh. I virtually forgot about it. There was a lull in the Cambodia holiday schedule (which conveniently coincided with when I started working) with the next massive break in April for Cambodian New Year.

Yet on the first day of Chinese New Year, I went out on errands and was shocked to learn I could drive across town in less then five minutes when it normally takes upwards of 10 or 15. There was no traffic...which in Cambodia means free reign to run red lights...which I may have done...maybe. Almost everything was closed and people stayed home with family and friends.

The one exciting bit is the dragon dancing. Businesses will hire dragon dancing troupes to perform in front of their establishments. Banks will have fabulous dancing for a long time. Smaller businesses have less elaborate performances for shorter durations. People will scurry around neighborhoods to catch the dragon dancing. It's that popular and I still see some sporadic dragon dancing though the holiday was two weeks ago.

My treat to myself for the second new year of 2011 was working from coffee shops instead of the office, just because I couldn't pass up getting across town so fast. In reality though, I used the lull of Phnom Penh insanity to learn to drive with a passenger. It was highly rewarding and now I can drive in 5pm traffic in Phnom Penh's busiest roads with someone riding on the back on my moto.

Everyone needs several New Years! I think it was my family who pointed out the real value of two--or three--new years is the ability to restart your resolutions if you fail the first time around. Incidentally, many of the lanterns are still up. Maybe the strategy is to wait until Cambodian New Year and double up.