Evening Lights of Lunar New Year

According to legend, in ancient China, the Nián (年) was a man-eating beast from the mountains (in other versions from under the sea), which came out every 12 months somewhere around winter to prey on humans. The people later believed that the Nian was sensitive to loud noises and the color red, so they scared it away with explosions, fireworks and the liberal use of the color red. These customs led to the first New Year celebrations. Guò nián (Simplified Chinese: 过年; Traditional Chinese: 過年), which means to celebrate the new year, literally means the passover of the Nian.
In my previous post " Food Palettes of the Chinese Lunar Holidays " it showed some of the colorful displays of food that you encounter to see during the festive holidays of the Chinese Lunar New Year. Another colorful display are the evening display of lights, from the fire works display on the New Year Eve itself to the various hues of pin red lights to the lights from lanterns that adorn the streets...traditionally the lights are red but over the century the light colors have also evolved and are already mixed. ... but still one can see the dominance of red..since its myth of scaring away the dark spirits. (Nian) Unlike the Western Christmas & New Year...light displays the uniqueness of Lunar New Year lights gives one the feeling of being in a fairy tale where trees grow with fruits of rubies....

I know this post has nothing to do with food either, but i feel just compeled to write about this breath taking evening displays.....

. . .archway to China town..

. . .fruits and leaves of rubies.....

. . . crimson are the trees....

. . . . . . .fire coral. . . .