With our week off (Dustin still had to work on and off throughout the days) for Chinese New Year we wanted to see a few things around town since we were not leaving on a trip. (About half the expat community leaves, and based on the traffic level a good 80% of Chinese people leave the city as well).
Monday, even though the weather was not ideal--drizzly and cool, we trooped down to Xintandi area of Shanghai and met Lindsay and Joel and their children to watch the dragon dance. We came in at the tail end of it, but it was almost perfect timing as they were going into each restaurant (Xintandi is a swanky pedestrian area filled with restaurants). There were a group of men holding sections of the dragon up on sticks and one man holding a ball on a stick that the dragon chased or followed. There were also two traditional Chinese Lions that were made up of two men each. They did a dance at the entrance of the restaurants to the music made by men drumming on a gong. Then the dragon went in and then they all came out. This was repeated over at each restaurant. This is why it was good we came at the tail end. We saw two restaurants like this and then they went to an area with a canopy and did a more formal dance.
We left from this and travel to a different location for dinner, called Blue Frog. We eat there regularly as it is western food and has a great kids area. The kids all enjoyed having a kids only table and then going to play while the adults visited. It was a great day and we were all glad to see the festivities.
Tuesday we relaxed and Wednesday I woke up and was completely exhausted. My cleaning the house for a week and a half and taking care of the kids got my condition flared up. Dustin was so sweet and had me stay in bed. He even took them to the clubhouse where I was to meet my girlfriends for lunch and let our kids play together. He stayed while they played and then called me over for lunch. I was completely wiped out, but went over to eat. When we got home I crawled back into bed and stayed there until 4 that night.
We all went to bed early that night, only to be awoken at 11:30 by fireworks so loud, if I did not know better I would have thought the city was being bombed. It lasted well into the night and then again early the next morning. Amazingly the kids slept through it all. Thankgoodness. We saw in the paper the next day an explanation for the loudness of the fireworks. Fireworks are set off for 19 days straight and each day has a different meaning. Apparently, the third day is for wealth and prosperity (hence, main reason for the amount of fireworks--everyone wants more money) and the loudness is in an attempt to wake the wealth god to seek your fortune. Also, it starts before 12 because apparently the early bird gets the worm. Our neighbor that was shaking the city at 11:30 should apparently become extremely wealthy this year as he was early and extremely loud. If only it was this simple, right?
We (every expat we have run into) is in agreement that we are tired of the fireworks. If this puts into perspective how it has been here (day and night)--I absolutely love fireworks, and I am sick of them.
On a sad note, I heard from my ayi and her mother passed away on the 8th. I am so grateful that she was able to spend time with her mother during her last few days. She said she would see us on Monday, and for that I am so grateful. She is such an enormous help to me.
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