Posts Tagged ‘Christmas and New Year’

In the Lane, Bells are Ringing

Friday, December 25th, 2009

After a wonderful German Christmas Eve dinner with our friends last night, I woke up early and heard the sound of bells jingling. Could it be???? I threw open the balcony door and looked out into the foggy dawn — no snow glistening in this lane — to see the recycling man with cardboard piled on his cart, clanging away on his bell. I went back to bed.

At 8:00 the phone rang. Family calling with greetings? No, it was the yogurt delivery lady. It may be Christmas, but it’s still Friday, and we had forgotten all about her. (Apparently she had been ringing the doorbell for some time.)  John zipped down and collected the week’s supply of jars of the world’s best yogurt. Yum, Christmas breakfast!

It’s a good thing I remembered to cancel the drycleaning delivery, or there wouldn’t be peace at all in our house today, let alone on earth!

9:30 — time to go downstairs and see if the adult youngsters are stirring.Wait! The doorbell is ringing again! It’s a woman I’ve never seen before, and she is waving her knitting project at me. It seems she needs more yarn to finish it… okay let’s traipse up to the tinzijian to see if I can match her color. Ok now, I am going to wake Alex and Christopher. It’s time to open our gifts and go to the Filipino Catholic English-language service and then pick up the rest of the fixings to make Christmas dinner.

To our family and friends far and wide, best wishes from Shanghai for a very Merry Christmas!Xmas1

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Moo

Sunday, January 25th, 2009

This evening is Chuxi, Lunar New Year’s Eve, and families and friends will gather for a feast to usher in the Year of the Ox.  Shanghai has been getting decked out for weeks and days. In our lane, our resident artist has sketched his own greeting:

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And here’s what you see if you stroll down Nanjing Lu, a very modern boulevard with expensive designer stores:

"paper cut" oxen

"paper cut" oxen

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a super-sized drum (noise chases away evil spirits) inscribed with a fu for good fortune,

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and a golden calf, oops! ox. (I half expected Moses to come marching around the corner bearing two stone tablets.)

Note how easily Christmas morphs into Lunar New Year by adding a few lanterns:

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Elsewhere, in the older part of the city, people are crowding the streets to buy traditional decorations — firecrackers (real and decorative), knots, lanterns, and stuffed cows.

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Not to mention toilet seat covers! (Maybe not traditional new year’s items, but it’s cold here!)moo8

And then there is the not-so-traditional Pepsi cow, whose background silhouette is composed entirely of cans:

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Jewelry and gold stores are pushing miniature oxen,

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Shouldn’t pigs be on sale?

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And at the Temple of the City God,

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people are sending up prayers:

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I am not in Shanghai right now, but I can tell you what it would be like for me if I were, based upon my experience there two years ago. In the evening, there will be very few people about, as they are all at home feasting with relatives and friends. But the quiet will be broken by bursts of firecrackers in the lane, although they are illegal and you can never see who set them off. The noise will build to a crescendo at midnight, with bursts  fireworks lighting the whole city randomly from every vantage point. Contrary to what you might think, the best view is not high up in a skyscraper; when we went to our 36th floor office to watch, we found that the smoke from all the fireworks quickly blotted out our view and the smells even penetrated through the sealed windows. The fireworks will continue for days, off and on, making it tough to sleep. This will all culminate in a couple of weeks with the Lantern Festival when, happily, I will be back in Shanghai.

Until then, my best wishes to you for a year of health, peace, and prosperity. Gong Xi Fa Cai!

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Gone Fishing

Friday, January 23rd, 2009

Coming home the other day I strolled into the lane and caught a distinct whiff. Not the smell of the garbage bins — I’m used to that. I looked up and found my prey:

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Fish, bathed in I don’t know what, and hung out to dry for a few days before becoming a delectable treat on the New Year’s Eve table. These guys are abundant in Shanghai at the moment. It’s high season for fishing.

Don’t ask me why, but I enjoy the hunt. I will whip my bike through traffic and over to the curb to catch a fish. Aren’t these beauties?

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Strictly speaking, the fish aren’t always fish. They can be fowl,

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or even sausage!

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You’ve got to have a sharp eye, looking for fish hiding in reeds

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and lurking in shadows,

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and, here in my lane, skulking behind shirts.

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Of course, some people just aren’t the do-it-yourself type. They prefer to swoop into the market, last minute, and scoop up their treats.

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But here on the balcony at our house, I’m proud to report that, thanks to Wang ayi, we have our own piece of pork that’s been brined and awaits our table.

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Bling Bling New Year to You

Wednesday, December 31st, 2008

In Shanghai’s dim, dark past — say, about five years ago — Christmas was celebrated quietly. After all, it’s not really a Chinese holiday. There were very few signs of Christmas on the streets, and you had to know where to get the trimmings for your own celebration. For example, I learned from an American friend that decorations were sold on the second floor of the flower market, a building that had begun life as a dog racetrack in the 1920s. When my son said that he’d like to have a tree, I suggested that he drag the potted orange tree inside from the balcony. (Ok, I was a little grouchy.)

All that has changed now. The flower market was torn down a couple of years ago. Shanghai has embraced Christmas and there are lights and Christmas trees and poinsettias everywhere. bling1

In fact, Christmas decorations are sometimes put up after Christmas day and mingle with red lanterns, as the festivities ellide with the Chinese New Year celebration, which begins this year on the night of January 24. This makes for a very pleasant atmosphere through winter’s darkest days and nights.

But sometimes the decorations are a little off.  These pandas don’t quite reflect the Christmas spirit, after all. bling2

And here’s another sign, ubiquitous in the commercial and shopping district of Xujiahui, that missed the mark and made us laugh.

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Still, perhaps only in China can the message be conveyed in pearls.

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As I write, darkness has fallen on 2008 and there are — of course — fireworks in the distance. To all of you I send my very best wishes for a bling bling 2009!

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