Looking back, looking ahead

Nothing brings home differences more effectively than the celebration of tradition, and nothing gets more traditional than the ongoing celebration of the Lunar New Year in China, with still a week to go.

It is a universal festivity that should unite ethnic Chinese all over the world, regardless of nationality, province, city or village, but it is also a time when regional nuances become most obvious.

In China itself, every village separated from its neighbors by a creek or hillock may develop totally different rituals. You can imagine the wide spectrum that develops in a vast country so culturally, geographically and linguistically diverse.