by jove, i hate chinese new year. back in china, it was great: three weeks off with pay. over here it sucks.
one week. airfares jacked up through the stratosphere. flights already booked solid. good luck getting out if you aren’t already in the system.
no ticket, no problem? wrong. can you just settle for staying on taiwan for the break? want to commune with nature? good luck. roads will be gridlocked. there will be no shortage of idiots trying to jump queues by tearing down the shoulder and wrecking and ruining it (even more) for everyone else. taroko last year was enough to bring tears to the eyes. tent upon tent on every horizontal surface and people crapping everywhere. elementary athletic fields throughout hualien became ersatz campgrounds.
don’t drink the booze they pour out at this time: conterfeit. poison. dead. happy new year.
what to do? book your tickets now. leave a week earlier than the rush (where tickets are still available) and come back later. you toil your arse off in a foreign land for the one (!) week of vacation only to find out that when the entire nation goes on vacation it isn’t much fun for anyone.
don’t even think about getting a hair cut in chinese new year. the price triples. “why?” will get you a “why not?”.
call me jaded if you want. i learnt the hard way on this topic. if but one person can be spared the “hard knocks” route the better.
