Chinese New Year

So... it's been a while since I've posted anything, which means life has been in full swing with working and playing in Shanghai and Asia.  For October break we went to Seoul and Kyoto (click the city name for photos), for Christmas we went back to the US, and most recently we went back to Bali for Chinese New Year.  Chris is traveling constantly and school has been busy with special events, conferences, reports, and new students.

Let's skip to Chinese New Year, the most widely celebrated holiday marking the beginning of the Lunar New Year.  It's similar to Thanksgiving in that everyone in the big cities leaves town to go back home to be with their families in the "countryside" or smaller cities and villages.  Planes, trains, and buses are loaded to the max with the annual migration, while city streets slowly empty out and business and schools shut down for a week or more.  I firmly believe the best way to celebrate CNY is by leaving China altogether, though some would argue you need to experience it on the mainland at least once.

We had a great time lounging on the beach in Bali (see photos here), while people back in China shivered through the week, kept awake by incessant fireworks.  Even when we returned we got a taste of the festivities in our own neighborhood.

The end of the "spring festival" is Lantern Festival (more photos here), coinciding with the first full moon of the Lunar New Year.  (That makes sense, with the full moon resembling a lantern and all...)  I went with Lisa and Pam to Yu Garden, a local tourist hot spot, to see the colorful lanterns strung throughout the pedestrian area.  The lanterns were pretty enough, and the crowd was really something to behold.  As we squeezed onto the tiny bridge across the pond, I could've easily lifted my feet off the ground and let myself get carried along with the crowd.  Those grandmas with big wooly hats and grandpas with kids on their shoulders are the experts at navigating the crowd: an elbow here or walking stick there to keep everyone out of their way.  I'd say I got to enjoy just enough of CNY, both by escaping to paradise and by going local.