Chinese New Year

I'm completely posting out of order, but at least I'm blogging!  January 23rd - 25th was Chinese Lunar New Year.  Sunday the 22nd was New Year's Eve.  Many many people were out of town because it's the one time of year most people living in Shanghai either take advantage of the time off to take a vacation, or go back to their homes.  It's amazing how few of the people living here are truly Shanghainese.  Todd and I were in town because we're taking our holiday this week.

Can I please tell you how WONDERFUL it was!  You could walk outside and not have a million people walking down the sidewalks... you could ride the metro without getting bumped into and squished... you could hear yourself think in public places (all of these negatives will receive their own post later).  It was great!

Another positive:  The amazing fireworks.  The only negative:  The amazing fireworks.  We're not talking, go to the fireworks stand and get some fireworks that spin and zip and make loud noises, but only go a few feet in the air.  We're not talking about fairground fireworks.  We're talking about full blown Disney World fireworks on every corner, being set off by every Joe Schmo with a lighter... or should I say Ching Chong (Yes, if you read my blog, you will also have to put up with very non-PC, stereotypical comments... but it's ok, I'm allowed... I'm asian).  It was CRAZY!  Here's what we saw on New Year's Eve... (WARNING: Explicit language - Please excuse my husband's bad language at the end of the video)

Those fireworks were being set off by someone who lives in our apartment complex.  They look so close because they were literally right outside the window of our hallway.

These were the fireworks going off around us at midnight.  This video is taken by me sticking my iPhone out the window.  There are more on the other side of our apartment.  The fireworks of this magnitude continued for a half an hours time.

I was very in to the fireworks on New Year's Eve, as you can tell from my taking video.  However, the subsequent firings, especially at 6 am, were highly annoying.  Every single morning, fireworks were shot off.  I could handle this if they were in the distance, but no, they sounded as if a canon was going off right outside our window.  Do you know what a black cat is in fireworks terms?  It's that annoyingly loud popping firecracker that just pop pop pops very loudly and quickly, one right after the other.  Well over here, the black cats are incredibly long.  I saw someone with one and thought it was a streamer.  I quickly realized it was a firework as the popping caused me to jump into the air.  They shoot those off at the same time as the canon sounding ones.  It's a wonderful noise to wake up to, especially when you're "retired" like me and can sleep in as long as you would like, any day of the week. : )

Elliott liked the fireworks, too

I read somewhere the reason Chinese people are so obsessed with fireworks is because there's supposed to be a monster that is scared away by the noise the fireworks make, so they scared the monster away for luck in the new year.  I'm not sure if this is really the legend and reason for the fireworks, but if it is, that monster is on the other side of the world after this week!

Please cross your fingers for me and hope the fireworks are over as it is 9:50 at night on Sunday, and everyone is back in town and the week containing Chinese New Year is quickly coming to a close.

Hope everyone had a wonderful New Years in the states.  We wish you an amazing 2012!

There's a 2012 on the building in the background - Hong Kong