"Luck and Good Fortune"

In Chiang Mai Thailand, most of the festivities for the Chinese New Year  take place in the Warrorot Market area... Warorot is the old Chinese Market here, with many Thai-Chinese shop owners.

Normally a busy market, there was extra traffic as people are out buying supplies for their altars and family get-togethers.

 Many shops were decorated with red paper lanterns.  And, long strings of fireworks did their job of frightening off any evil spirits, leaving plenty of red paper confetti littering the streets. 

II especially enjoyed peeking into each shop to admire the beautiful New Year altars.  Some altars took up almost the full interior of the shop.  Others were placed on the floor by the front door.  And, a few shop owners created a special table on the sidewalk. Each altar was richly loaded with trays of roasted ducks, chickens, tea, rice, fruit, red candles and plenty of incense. A few even offered a bottle of whiskey!

I wish you a very happy and prosperous
Year of the Rat! 

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All photos copyright Deb Swingholm 2008 . 
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