0101010101 LOLOLOLOLOL

Due to some idiosyncracy in the the traditional Chinese calendar, Spring Festival (or Chinese New Year as it is better known outside China) has rolled up a bit later than usual this year. Given that and a bit of Global Warming, this means that, for once, it actually feels like Spring. Previous Spring Festivals could have been called Dead of Winter Festival and made as much sense.

Anyway, it all starts next weekend (18th is New Year's Day). In the run up, all hell has broken loose. Supermarkets have stopped sellling regular stuff that you actually want to eat and stocked up with gift packs. Packs of anything really. I mentioned once before the gift packed sausages, which are the regular sausages which cost about ¥10, but wrapped up in lots of foil and cardboard suddenly cost ¥100.

Outside on the street, the chaos is no less. Back in October, they started to convert one of Liuzhou's busiest streets into a pedestrian zone. Now they are desperately trying to finish it before the weekend. (I could have told them that they could save time, by not paving the whole street then digging it all up again to install the electricity cables etc.)

For reasons which I cannot fathom, at the northern end they have installed this fountain thing. No doubt in recognition of the digital age, the main theme is a string of binary -

0101010101010101010101010101010.

One day when I'm very, very bored I'll work out exactly what number it is. Don't hold your breath.

Unfortunately, looked at from the other side - where they built the viewing platform - it reads LOL LOL LOL

Just in case you are digitally challenged there is a also huge statue of an abacus only a few metres away.

Why? That, I leave to you.

The New Year will be the Year of the Pig. Let's hope it's not a pig of a year!

Happy New Year!

tags: china  guangxi  liuzhou  中国  广西  柳州  new year  abacus  digital  lol  spring festival  pig  

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