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Happy Chinese New Year! As most of you know, the Chinese Lunar New Year is upon us and we're now in the Year of the Rabbit. Back at home, it's a time where the family meets in Chinatown for dinner, exchanges red envelopes and Google changes their logo for a day. But here in the Middle Kingdom, this holiday takes on a whole new meaning. Think Thanksgiving, Christmas and Black Friday Shopping combined... plus 700 million people. CNY holiday travelling has been unofficially recognized as the largest human migration in the world. The country shuts down for a week, as people travel to wherever their families are to make dumplings, eat a feast, watch the CCTV CNY variety show marathon and light fireworks at midnight.
We've heard stories about what it's like in Shanghai. Mainly about the fireworks. "Good luck sleeping" was the general message we got. We were just hoping it wouldn't bother Janie.
CNY morning was actually quite pleasant. The weather was an uncharacteristic 55 degrees and sunny. I organized a game of football on New Years morning for those of us not travelling. Shanghai was a ghost town. After football, we packed up and headed over the river to Pudong to a friends place where we played games and had dinner. We came home about an hour before midnight, where the streets were still quiet and empty. After feeding and changing Janie, it was close to twelve... and then it began.
Shanghai Fireworks from our apartment
The residents of Shanghai seemed to spill out from wherever they were holed up during the day into the streets and simultaneously light the sky on fire. The entire city seemed to be lit up with fireworks for a good hour straight. Very impressive. Janie actually LOVED watching the fireworks. Day 4 of the holiday week is supposed to be an even bigger night for fireworks, so we're looking forward to that for sure.
Janie mesmerized by fireworks
Here are some random pictures:
Yunan Bug Restaurant
Homemade Daisy PIzza
And more of Miss Janie:
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