Lunar New Year!!

Week 4-5 (1/27 – 2/9)

We basically had the entirety of Week 4 off for the Lunar New Year. I started my Lunar New Year celebrations by buying auspicious flowers at Mongkok Flower Market (which was very busy, and popular according to my Chinese teacher). My friends and I also went to Shenzhen, China, for the first time.

Shenzhen is surprisingly close to Hong Kong, it's literally only an hour away from our dorms by MTR. Since we didn’t have a visa to enter China (since I have a US Passport), we had to get temporary visas from the Lo Wu visa office, which took around 45 minutes since we got there early. If I remember correctly, the visa costs around 20 USD and is a single-entry five-day visa.

Besides it being Lunar New Year, and us wanting to check out Shenzhen, we went there to get our nails done. Unfortunately, because it was Lunar New Year, most of the shops in Laojie (the Old District) were closed, and the ones that were open were more expensive (so we didn’t end up getting our nails done). But we did get to try some really good skewers and street food that I definitely recommend.

Obviously, Lunar New Year is a pretty big deal in Hong Kong and China, and there seems to be endless festivities. My friends and I went to the Lunar New Year parade, and let me tell you, it was packed like sardines. So many people come out to watch the parade that it’s kind of overwhelming, but really nice at the same time.

Besides celebrating Lunar New Year, I didn’t really do anything besides go to a few restaurants by myself and try different foods.