2024 Chinese New Year outlook
I was born in the late sixties, at a time when both material and cultural scarcity were relatively scarce. At that time, the children's expectations for the New Year far exceeded the expectations of today's children for Christmas or Halloween. And now, as time goes by, that strong smell of the New Year seems to be fading.
I remember when I was a child, every Chinese New Year, we children would be excited for a long time in advance, and enter the countdown early, and there will be xx days away. The anticipation of the Chinese New Year is not only because you can eat delicious food that is usually difficult to eat, but more importantly, it means excitement, laughter and endless happiness. Adults would buy us new clothes in advance, and that was the most beautiful time of the year. And those little firecrackers are our treasures. Every time the adults lit them, we would laugh and run away, watching those beautiful sparks fly around, as if we saw the light of happiness.
And what we are looking forward to the most is the dragon lantern dance and playing with lions. At that time, in the countryside, every Chinese New Year, there would be dragon lanterns and lion teams shuttling between the households, bringing laughter and a lively atmosphere. We, the kids, would run along with the procession, cheering and cheering, as if the whole world was filled with joy.
However, this all seems to be quietly changing over time. In the current Chinese New Year, although the food is more abundant and the fireworks are more gorgeous, the simple and pure happiness seems to have disappeared. Today's children don't have such high expectations for the New Year, and now they have too many toys to play with and too many delicacies to eat. Adults, on the other hand, no longer have that enthusiasm for the New Year because of work pressure or other reasons.
The dilution of the flavor of the New Year may be the inevitable result of the development of the times. But in my heart, that simple and pure year will always be the best. I hope that we can find that kind of enthusiasm and happiness for the New Year in our busy lives, and let the taste of the New Year come back to our lives.