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During Chinese New Year, the city of Shanghai empties as people leave the city to spend the holiday with their families. The result is an oddly empty city. Here we were walking around Xujiahui at around midnight on Chinese New Year. Fireworks were literally exploding all around us. There isn't a single fireworks show like what we have on the Fourth of July; rather, individuals, or individual businesses, buy fireworks and simply light them on the sidewalk. Walking out onto the street, you almost feel like you're experiencing a war zone. The sound of all those fireworks exploding makes normal conversation impossible. We were at some friends' apartment recently. Their apartment is located on the east side of the river on the 31st floor. We can actually see the river and part of the west side skyline from their balcony. Fireworks were going off all evening, but started to get really intense around midnight. It was really cool to watch the entire city exploding with fireworks. Still pictures don't do the sight as much justice as a video, which Eric is editing now.
Chinese New Year actually is observed over the course of 15 days, with each day having a special significance and with special rituals that are traditionally observed as well as special foods that are eaten. On New Year's Eve, you are supposed to to open windows and doors to let good luck in. On New Year's day, you are not supposed to clean as that will sweep away your good luck. And on it goes. I'll share more as I figure this out.
Huang Shan literally means 'Yellow Mountain'. It is located in Anhui province and is about a 1 1/2 hour flight from Shanghai. We took this trip at the end of October with the Shanghai Expat Association. Our group was small, 8 people total including us. As part of the itinerary, we visited 2 historic villages, one of which is Hongcun. Hongcun was one location used for the 2000 movie, Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon.
A large pond sits in front of the walled village. There is a stone walkway and bridge leading to the front gate. Inside, the village is comprised of stone buildings separated by narrow alleyways. Yellow Mountain is a popular tourist destination for both Chinese and other nationals. Along with our group were several other groups, usually consisting of at least a dozen people per group. The groups usually had a leader carrying a pennant and guiding the group with a small microphone and a portable amplifier. The group members typically wore either matching hats or matching T-shirts. The alleyways were lined with shops selling all sorts of souvenirs.
This shop was selling scarves and had apparently hung out a duck along with the merchandise.
We also toured an ink factory where we saw a demonstration of how traditional Chinese ink sticks were made. The ink was made from soot collected from burning a certain kind of oil. Bowls set over the fire collected the resulting soot. The soot was then processed into ink. In the factory, a woman was hand-carving a mold for the ink sticks. A man would take lumps of ink and pound them with a wooden mallet. He would then pull off balls of ink, weigh them, and then place the balls into a rectangular mold and press it into place with the lid. The ink in the molds would then be set aside to air-dry. Once dry, the ink sticks would be knocked out of the molds and sold. The person using the ink would usually have a flat, shallow dish -- oftentimes carved from a special stone -- with a bit of water. The ink stick would be moistened and then the ink slowly drawn in circles around the dish to dissolve the ink. This process of dissolving the ink was considered meditative and important for collecting one's thoughts about the calligraphy or sketches one was about to do.
The next day we drove to the base of Yellow Mountain and took a cable car to the top. At the base of the mountain were feathery bamboo forests. At the top, were weathered pine trees. We checked into one of the hotels on top of the mountain and hiked around the trails. A typical Chinese landscape ink painting oftentimes depicts tall, dramatically spiky mountains. You don't really understand or appreciate those paintings until you see Yellow Mountain. The mountains are granite. Geological processes have transformed them into striking pillars. Many of the peaks have oddly vivid, interesting names, like "Beginning to Believe Peak" (a monk had heard about the famed beauty of Yellow Mountain and only when he saw it for himself did he 'begin to believe'), ''Eighteen Arhats Facing the South Sea'',"Immortal Sunning His Boot'', ''Squirrel Skipping to Celestial Capital'', ''Golden Cock Crowing Towards the Heavenly Gate", '' Monkey Gazing at the Sea'', and the list goes on. There are over 70 peaks contained in this region.
This particular peak is "Monkey Looking at the Sea". On the top of the peak is a rock that resembles the back of a monkey as it is looking out.
People snap locks onto the chain barriers, many of which are engraved with names or initials and a date.
The locks represent everlasting love. Once locked, the key is tossed into the gorge (though I'm not sure if keys are even sold with these locks since they are sold to be fastened onto the chain).
We walked to a part of the park called the Grand Canyon, named after the American Grand Canyon (really, this is what our Chinese guide told us). This part of the park had no crowds -- even here, in the great outdoors, we ran into several tour groups like the ones we met at Hongcun -- and we enjoyed having a bit of peace to ourselves. The park had a nice series of trails and stairways with railings cast to resemble tree bark.
This is one of the stairways build along the side of the mountain.
The following morning, we woke at 4:15 to watch the sun rise. When the weather cooperates, the sunrise is supposed to be spectacular. We wore warm coats provided by the hotel and joined many, many other people to find a lookout point to watch the sunrise. Even at that hour, we heard tour leaders guiding their groups with the microphones -- not something I cherish listening to at 5AM. We found a good spot to wait and were shortly joined by about 40 other people, none of which were the least bit quiet. One man starting crowing.
Here is a pre-dawn picture of the mountains. The weather was not cooperative and it was grey and overcast. The sunset was weak. I think I should have stayed in bed. The entire thing would have been improved by a set of noise-cancelling headphones and a thermos of hot chocolate.
Later that day, we went to Emerald Valley, another location for the movie Crouching Tiger, Hidden Dragon. The water was an amazing turquoise from natural copper deposits.
While there, Eric was 'attacked' by a praying mantis. Ask him how loudly he was shrieking for me to 'get it off!'
It felt so good to get out Shanghai and
Time moves in a strange arc. On one hand I can't believe that it is October already. Thanksgiving and Christmas are just around the corner. At the same time, when I am asked how long I've lived here in Shanghai, I have to think hard and am amazed to say that it has only been 6 months. It feels like I have been here so much longer than that.
This week is October Holiday for China. October 1 is National Day here; it's the day the People's Republic of China was founded in 1949. Many offices here are closed for the week, though this does not necessarily mean vacation for expats. Being an expat means that you work on the schedule of your home office, no matter where that may be, as well as the local schedule in Shanghai. As for us, we're staying put. We have a trip planned on the 19th to Yellow Mountain, which is supposed to be one of China's most beautiful mountains (though I think the appellation is applied to everything).
This past Saturday, we had Eric's officemates over for a barbecue. I made chicken and beef kebabs to grill. I also bought Johnsonville brats, potato chips (Lays!), Doritos, hummus and pita bread. I made a cold couscous salad with white beans and shredded carrot. I had a puzzling time trying to explain what couscous, hummus, and pita bread were to some of the Chinese people. I can't tell you how good a grilled brat is. I never thought that I'd have such nostalgia for Doritos; I rarely bought them back in the U.S.
Now I'm contemplating the enormous fruit basket that Eric's officemates brought as a gift for the barbecue. I don't know how I'll manage to eat all that fruit. I'll probably have some people over to eat fruit and drink beer and wine, since I am left with ample amounts of all 3 since the barbecue.
Eric is doing a bit of work from home, but still is quite relaxed. We are having a nice, leisurely day here at home -- breakfast of scrambled eggs, gym, leftovers, reading quietly.
Yesterday, I volunteered at an orphanage with a friend, Lee. Lee had a girl friend who had been volunteering at this orphanage for the past year. She and another woman go to the orphanage every Thursday for 2 hours. There, they play and interact with a group of 2-year-old children. Though this is something I wanted to do, I had my reservations. I suppose I was wondering about the conditions at the orphanage and I was wondering about the children there. I really didn't know what to expect. There are no pictures per the orphanage director's request.
The orphanage we went to (I don't know how many such facilities are in Shanghai) was on the outer edge of the city, near the Hong Qiao Airport. The building was large and looked like an ordinary school. The grounds and the building were well-maintained and clean. When I say the place looked like a school, I mean literally that. There were various hallways lined with classrooms set with windows both looking into the hall as well as outside. Instead of desks, classrooms would have metal cribs set in 5-6 groups of 8. Each crib had identical bedding but with a different stuffed animal set in each. There were little child-sized chairs lining one of the walls. In one hallway, I saw at least 4 rooms set up in this way. One of the other women said that there were infants on another floor. According to them, the orphanage housed up to 1000 children. The building was empty at the time as the older children are bussed out to school during the day.
We went to a classroom set up as the playroom; the two regular volunteers automatically knowing the routine. The playroom had a single crib filled with toys. There were low shelves lining one wall, mostly empty except for a few toys and books. Mats lined the floor in one corner of the room. Near the door sat one of the ayis (Ayi is a general term used for women who act as maids and nannies.) reading to a group of children sitting on the floor. When we entered the room, some of the children, recognizing the regular volunteers, raised up their arms to be picked up. Who could resist?
The two regular volunteer women, Ann and Tracy, took some children outside in a couple of different double-occupancy strollers. Lee and I moved to the corner and sat down amidst some of the other children. I soon had 3 children in my lap. Though these children were in the 2-year age range, none of the children looked like an average American 2-year old child. These children were smaller, probably due in part to the average Chinese person being smaller than than the average American and also due to their circumstance. Many of the children seemed to have developmental disabilities and many were deaf. The children were much more subdued than other children of this age I have seen. They were not rambunctious, but rather were content to sit in your lap and be cuddled. Lee and I took a group of children outside where they could enjoy some fresh air and sunshine.
At the end our time there, we brought all the children back inside. It was time for their evening meal. That was probably a good time to leave as the children would hopefully too be preoccupied eating to notice we were leaving.
I plan to go back. Though I can't help but wish that there were more child development programs in place, especially one that taught sign language, I got the sense that the women there caring for the children were doing the best they could given what resources they had. This was my first time; I don't know much about the orphanage itself or the women who work there. I don't know enough Chinese to know exactly what was going on or what the ayis' opinion was of these foreign volunteers. I suppose the biggest question I have is what kind of future these children can expect. Tracy and Ann mentioned that they know of a few children there who have been adopted. China is not yet very accommodating for the handicapped. One of the children there is very bright though he is deaf. His deafness will most definitely be considered a liability when considered for adoption. Maybe it's a selfish thought, but I hope that my presence can be of some benefit.
As Eric and I were walking through the metro, we were talking about how we had seen people bring just about everything on the metro, except the proverbial kitchen sink. And then we saw one.
Well maybe not exactly a kitchen sink, but a sink nonetheless.
Time goes by so quickly. It's hard to believe that it's September already and we'll be marking our 6-month anniversary here in Shanghai. We've had a hot, hot summer. August was the worst of it with temperatures in the high 30Cs (nearly 100F) accompanied by the soupiest humidity I've ever had to endure. I couldn't walk far without being soaked with sweat. Thankfully, the heat has lately broken and today, despite the drizzle, was pleasantly cool.
Recently, we went skiing again with Penny. This time, we were accompanied by 7 members of her family, including 4 children. We weren't paying close attention when we on the metro and forgot to get off at our correct stop. It was literally the end of the line, so we had to wait a moment before the train started up again.
The only person on the train was a woman sweeping the cars. The train started up again to resume the opposite route back. We got off the train this time and took a taxi to the indoor ski place. The place as busy; full of people. For most of the people in our party, this was the first time they had been on skis.
Here is Penny and her family. The children are 13, 10, 10, and 6. Dang Dang has been to Shanghai before. He and Eric have a shared interest in G.I. Joes. You can't see it here, but Dang Dang is playing with a toy grappling line that came with the G.I. Joe action figure Eric brought him from the U.S. We were all surprised that he managed to hold onto the thing throughout the skiing excursion.
We parted ways after skiing with plans to meet up again later that night. We walked along the river on the Pudong side so we could see the bright lights of the Bund. The children were quite tired by that time as were the adults.
It's my first birthday in China.
Here's me with my birthday cake. I have found a great group of friends here in Shanghai. Here they surprised me with a birthday cake complete with candles (though there wasn't room enough for all the candles that would equal my age) and a gift. We went out later that evening to a couple of different places on the Bund, one of which had a balcony with an amazing night time view of the Bund and the river.
Hope you enjoy the view.
