Flower Market Chinese New Years Eve

Yesterday marked the first of fifteen days of the Chinese New Year celebration. In preparation to bringing in the new year most families will give their home a thorough cleaning to rid any bad luck and welcome in the good luck for this year.  In addition to cleaning, one other tradition I found out about is buying flowers to decorate the home.

I was told that the last few minutes before midnight were the most hectic as vendors try to sell their remaining goods for low prices.

Coming down to the flower market in Mong Kok, I had no intention of getting flowers.  For money anyway.

It turns out any flowers that can’t be sold are thrown to the streets and then stomped on so no one would bother picking them up.  Sounds pretty brutal, but since businesses are closed and people are home for the first few days of the new year the flowers wouldn’t stand a chance of surviving the following days anyhow.  And no, if the vendors can’t keep them they surely won’ t give it away for free.

So my point of coming out was to witness and lend a hand in the massacre.  Any survivors I would save and take home for myself.

However, there was no massacre.  At the stroke of midnight, the crowd cheered and sound of firecrackers were heard in the background.  Some vendors at this point started packing equipment back into their shops while others remained opened.  The streets remained chaotic.

I was anxious to grab these pots one by one and trash them on the streets at midnight.  I’m not a violent person but thought of it as a nice way to bring in the new year.  Once I figured my fantasy wasn’t happening I headed out.

I found out the next day that the smash fest doesn’t occur until around 4am.  I’ll make a mental note of this for next year.  Below is a brief view of the market.  Crazy mad traffic!