38. The Two Festivals

Great Migration

As before mentioned I got a visit from my sister over the Chinese New Year break. It was quite symbolic given the celebration being about business being dropped and family time happening.

I also had the week off. Travelling and seeing the most we possibly could was the agenda.

The problem is that China experiences the largest human migration over this period. Approximately 11 million people leave Shanghai to travel back home to their families.

The festival starts at the start of the lunar month, so the exodus happened over along period but the main concentration was a few days at the start and end of the week.

This ruled out doing anything in the way of X’ian and Beijing as coming back to catch Jessica’s flight would have coincided with the rest of the Chinese countryside.

In the end we ended up getting tickets to nearby Suzhou and Nanjing which worked out fine.

 

Chinese New Year

We were in Shanghai for the actual date of the New Year, and as advised to us, it was dead.

A place that was still buzzing was the Western bars on the Bund and us with other Western clientele paid our way into the snobbish feeling Bar Rouge.

The party was good. It had snowed but we both fought our way out on their terrace to over look the famous Pudong skyline.

Their terrace was weirdly cordoned off halfway. This made sense when they brought out their own fireworks to set off  before the real show began across the HuangPu river.

Fireworks were going off literally 10 minutes from where we standing I think even someone in the crowd got hit by a stray spark. We got some good footage off the 10 minutes show and then waited for Pudong to erupt.

The clock struck midnight. People were piling out on the Bund. Faces facing one way only, people on rooftops, breaths were baited all watching from the Bund and possibly all around the city in view. We were all waiting for the show to start. However,

Nothing.

I stood out in the cold as people trickled back in. Surely there must be a show. Maybe its Chinese tradition to do these kind of things late. But no, it wasn’t to be.

Pudong skyline New Years Eve 12pm.

There has been a mini hiatus for fireworks this year as China realizes its pollution problem. The Pudong inactivity might have been the political statement of 'holding back till we sort this shit out' kind of thing.

In any case not everyone was holding back. Fireworks did go off all week just no big pretty ones. The one night where, it felt like you were in Baghdad the noise was so bad, was the Wednesday night 4 days later.

Most fireworks set off during the week were meant to celebrate wading away the devil from your family. I later found out that the fireworks set of on that Wednesday night were to bring you prosperity and wealth for the year. A little obvious of course!

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 The last night Jessica was here she to my satisfaction really felt the city come alive again as people returned to the city. It was quite a nourishing feeling and the buzz was palpable as we walked down Nanjing Lu.


Shanghai was almost a reluctant New Years celebrator. You know the stiff business wearing man in the corner of a party who doesn’t talk just gives a nod to the passes by. He's alive in the business room though.

The endearing image I remember of Shanghai Chinese New Year was of seeing our first dragon not parading itself down the street but heading into a Costa coffee.
 

Lantern Festival

Jessica left and my life was back to normal for a while. However, Shanghai the old sleezy dog had one last trick up its sleeves.

This was the Lantern Festival a week long thing. I’m not sure what it celebrates but there was a huge mass of people out for it on Sunday night in Yu Yuan gardens.

It was a party and I loved it. Traditional music pumping, the lanterns were out and the place looked stunning. It went some way to appeasing the New Year No Show and I got some good pictures.

My Chinese teacher told me of stories where Chinese New Year was once the party in the street all night long thing. But its now a more relaxed take a break with the family holiday.

Shanghai more than any other city is one that can earn this temporary rest.