I wrote this story some six months before the date of Chinese New Year 2006. As it happens, that night actually WAS one of those clear, crisp, cold nights as described in the story. It was intended to go AFTER the next story, Epsilon and Thete, but I decided to switch it to be posted online on the weekend of the Chinese New Year. As far as I can make out, the rituals and traditions described are accurate. The food eaten at the New Years Eve feast is correct, and so are the rituals of New Years Day.

Yaoguai IS a Chinese word for a demon generally. I read about a particular form of Yaoguai that preys on the elderly and worked it into the idea of one that would attack the oldest people, and with Li Tuo and Chrístõ, and Bo, who, having been born in the 19th century, is also technically older than everyone else in Chinatown, we are set up for an adventure. Putting the Yaoguai in an ethereal plain where Chrístõ, Li Tuo and Bo must fight it in order to survive in the real world. It seriously stretched my powers of description of sword fighting. Without sounding like a fencing manual it is very hard to describe sword fighting and martial arts without getting boring.

The relationship between Chrístõ and Bo is described here as one of deep love. In the original running order there was another story in which their love developed a bit more. In this order it is very much a love at first sight kind of relationship. It possibly NEEDS more time to develop, since their LOVE was the key to defeating the creature.

http://www.educ.uvic.ca/faculty/mroth/438/CHINA/chinese_new_year.html

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Yaoguai