Chinese New Year 2009

Two years on from our first Chinese new year's eve. Then we stood, in a sea of people, partying on Joe's balcony on the 30th floor of Embassy House - thousands of fireworks exploding all across Beijing. This week we stood on the same balcony - but, unfortunately, the apartment was empty since Joe and his family had moved out a few months ago.

Watching the fireworks was as intense and exciting as that first time, two years ago. It's hard to explain what it's like. The fireworks start early in the day and build up to a crescendo - from around 11pm to 1am it's non-stop. There is nothing quite like it. I've seen spectacular fireworks displays in the past - they have all been beautifully organised, immaculately planned, wonderfully co-ordinated and executed. But not in Beijing. Beijing on new year's eve is wild, out of control and completely un-coordinated. Thousands of individuals all over the city go out and buy fireworks from street-corner tents set up specially for the holiday and then let them off where ever they feel like. In the middle of the road as cars drive past; on the pavement as people walk past. It's a war zone. It's the Blitz but more colourful.
Street-corner fireworks stand, ringed with fire extinguishers, and boxes of explosives stacked high

Across the street from our building is 'Water World' - Hua Yi Tian Lun Shui Shi - a bath house/massage/spa place. The staff had been setting off fireworks in front of the building on and off all day but around 10.30pm they brought out dozens of big rocket boxes, put them on the middle divider and let them all off. Take a look.

London cabs hit Beijing streets

Now manufactured in Shanghai for sale across the world, the famed London taxi hit Beijing streets for the Paralympics. Now a fleet of them happily ply their trade in traditional Beijing taxi livery. Seating is the regular two pull down seats facing the back bench and no sitting in front. How will the Chinese cab-rider cope with this, since most like to sit upfront.

Lazy Susan

We were seven, sitting at a big round table at Da Dong our favourite Beijing duck restaurant. As the dishes glided slowly & elegantly round the table on the lazy susan and I started wondering...did the Chinese invent the lazy susan or as they call it - 玻璃 转盘 (bō li zhuàn pán) - rather boringly - 'glass turntable' ? If so, it's definitely up there with gunpowder and paper since the bō li zhuàn pán is a critical component of enjoying shared-food-meals such as Chinese.


But lazy susan sounds so North American - and who was Susan? Someone so lazy that she found it easier to invent a thick cut, heavy duty, glass disc sitting on top of a precision ball bearing turntable rather than pass the yams when her kids asked at the dinner table?



As we discussed it, I thought about the tens of thousands of restaurants throughout China and all those big round tables and all those lazy susans and wondered how many serious accidents had occurred that involved lazy susans? Just think of that heavy glass platter whizzing around too fast and flying off the turntable..decapitating all in its path. How many had died over the years, victims of the rogue lazy susan?


Harry was intrigued and immediately hit Google on his return home. This is where the internet comes into it's own. A few keystrokes & you will get more information about lazy susans than you ever wanted or thought existed..and you will probably find some weirdo that runs a web site dedicated to the subject.



No terminal accidents, but he did find the 2002 case of the Perri family v Furama Restaurant heard in Cook County Court, Illinois. A waitress had placed a pot of tea on the lazy susan, apparently unbeknown to the family. Later, the lazy susan was spun and the pot of tea flew off scalding the family's young child. They claimed the restaurant was negligent but lost their case. Not a happy story, but it sets a precedent...we are each responsible for the actions of our own lazy susan.



P.S. The Jewish World Review dates the lazy susan to a 1917 advert in Vanity Fair, but claims the turntable-with-food-on-it goes back to the 1700s. And Susan was a common term when referring to a waitress. I still think it was the Chinese.