CNY
2005-01-28
@ 3:06 p.m.
As the Lunar New Year draws closer, more families are getting into the spring cleaning mood, stuffing their two dollar notes into the ang pows, making midnight trips to Chinatown to buy whatever it is they buy. Plants, foodstuff, and all sorts of decorative ornaments to beautify their homes.
Chinatown, otherwise known as "niu che shui" - I think I'll be planning a trip down there to mingle with the crowd, trading sweat as bodies rub against one another in a sea of people, but I have no idea why I'm going down there in the first place. There's nothing much for me to buy there.
Aside from that, I wonder how did the name "niu che shui" come about? It certainly is not a direct translation from English, not even remotely close. Did anyone ever ask that question before?