while I cannot explain the rabbit&cat mix up the buffalo and ox is simple: To my knowledge knowledge the Chinese language does not have a word for Buffalo, it is simply a "water ox"...
about "lunar year": there are several lunar calenders in the world, so the term Chinese New Year is in my eyes better. The people who celebrate it are either Chinese (from their cultural background) or very close related as Vietnam (or simply like to party ... for example me).
In the West we use the moon for certain festivities as well, for example to define which date is Easter:
"The rule is that Easter is the first Sunday after the first ecclesiastical full moon that occurs on or after March 21."
gnartyuh, STOP with the foodie descriptions!!!! *drools* Btw, it's interesting that you have a joss stick sticking out from the sticky rice because in Chinese culture, that's totally taboo!!! XD
Empty? Don't get it. It's kinda full... and I am even in the suburbs, not the center. (I am talking 40km out of the town center - half the way between Zurich and Basel...)
Cold? Hell, yeah. It's well below zero....
Polluted? Absolutely. It has been for years, but only now is it finally a topic in the news even here...
Train? Hell, no. We hire a driver... after all does all this polution have to come from somewhere...
We'll spend a couple of days here and a couple of days on a short trip to Xian - never been there, so on my bucket list. Supposed to be even colder there...
And as soon as this CCTV new year gala program is finally over am I going to set the place on fire with some estimated 20kg of explosives fireworks... the government suggest to the population to cut down on firecrackers to not worsen the pollution. From what I have seen so far did it work approximately as good as the "do not use swearwords" sings in Beijings football stadium...