The countdown to Spring Festival has started. In less than a week the nation will welcome the Chinese New Year, and for that, lots of preparations have to be made. Chinese families make extra efforts to give their homes an extra thorough cleaning – to clean out all the “bad luck” from this past year. Stores and supermarkets are crowded with people buying presents and ingredients for the elaborate New Year’s meals – Spring Festival is very much about eating! Public transportation is bursting with travelers – more than any other time in the year – as most everyone is trying to return to their respective hometowns in order to spend the holidays with their families. Usually, traveling around Spring Festival is a nightmare – prices are much higher than usual, and trains and busses so full, that more often than not you won’t be able to get on a vehicle at all. Here around school, we can tell that the new year is around the corner, because in recent days it has become even …