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Check Out The Spectacular Chinese New Year Fireworks Over The Hudson River
By
Jen Chung
Published Feb 18, 2015
Modified Feb 18, 2015
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Courtesy of China Central Academy of Fine Arts
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By
Jen Chung
Published Feb 18, 2015
Modified Feb 18, 2015
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Okay, West Side Manhattan and NJ residents—hopefully last night's dazzling Chinese New Year fireworks display helped you get over the whole July 4th East River fireworks thing. Bring on the Year of the Sheep! (Or Ram.)
The Lunar New Year doesn't start until tomorrow, but the China Central Academy of Fine Arts organized the fireworks to kick off a number of celebratory events in NYC, including a Chinese New Year concert with Yo Yo Ma and the New York Philharmonic at Lincoln Center. Last night's fireworks—organized by Fireworks by Grucci—were launched from three barges, which, a press release crowed, "nearly equal[s] the iconic Macy’s Independence Day Fireworks Spectacular in scope." Here's a video that suggests, yes, it's pretty wow-worthy:
The press release also explained that the fireworks display, titled Harmonious China, "was divided into four thematic and emotional chapters—starting with “Great Jubilance”, followed by “The Return of Spring”, then “Illumination of Stars and the Moon”, and concluding with a powerful “Universal Celebration”."
In China, traveling during New Year period is like traveling on Memorial Day, Labor Day, Thanksgiving and Christmas multiplied by one hundred. The Guardian explained:
Passenger trips (slightly fewer than three trips for every Chinese citizen) will turn China’s roads, airports and train stations into congestion hotspots over the 40-day period, according to government predictions. The annual Chunyun, or “spring festival transport”, is the largest human migration in the world. Major cities empty, sleepy villages spring to life, and traffic jams on major roads stretch for miles.
The 2009 documentary, Last Train Home, depicted the journey of a couple who return to their village from their factory jobs in the city to celebrate the Chinese New Year and see their children once a year. The NY Times' film critic A.O. Scott wrote, "It tells the story of a family caught, and possibly crushed, between the past and the future — a story that, on its own, is moving, even heartbreaking. Multiplied by 130 million, it becomes a terrifying and sobering panorama of the present." You can watch it on Hulu.
Tomorrow, there will be the annual Chinatown Firecracker Ceremony in Sara Roosevelt Park at 11 a.m., and then on Sunday, the Lunar New Year Parade starts at 1 p.m. (details here).
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chinese new year
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year of the sheep
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Jen Chung
Jen Chung is a former WNYC and Gothamist editor.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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