Happy Chinese New Year!

it is the year of the snake,

and what better way to start the year than to eat one! snake shop owner Mak Tai-kong, 84, holds snakes which were caught in Chinese mainland, it is believed that in traditional cuisine eating snakes is good for your health, the savoury meal thought to speed up the body's blood flow and keep it strong in the cold winter months,

 but buyer beware, the snakes seen inside these compartment in wooden cupboards are labelled 'Poisonous Snakes' so best leave it to the experts to catch and cook them,

but for the adventurous this is what the snake soup meal looks like, but back to the Chinese New Year, it is the most important holiday for Chinese around the world and it all started out of fear, it appears that the centuries-old legend on the origins of the New Year celebration varies from teller to teller, but they all include a story of a terrible mythical monster who preyed on villagers, the lion-like monster’s name was Nian (年) which is also the Chinese word for “year" the stories also all include a wise old man who counsels the villagers to ward off the evil Nian by making loud noises with drums and firecrackers and hanging red paper cutouts and scrolls on their doors, because for some reason the Nian is scared of the colour red,


so now I know why the firecrackers are used and the love of the colour red in the celebrations, so, 

Gung hei fat choi! Happy New Year!