We'll spend the first week of the Chinese New Year in Xiamen, which is a two-hour flight from here. All I know about Xiamen is from a recent Neal Stephenson novel, and that featured a lot of explosions and gunfire, which I hope we can avoid (on the other hand, come to think of it, the Spring Festival is quite heavy on pyrotechnics). I did learn that Xiamen is very close to Taiwan, though, and am looking forward to the warmer climate.

The new year is the Year of the Dragon, which is my year.