Welcome 2009: Red Lanterns Floating Over Huangpu River

Our first New Year's in China. You might think there are huge parties in a city of 25 million people. However, the start to the year has been pretty low key. It’s an official holiday from the 1st to the 3rd and the streets are empty. Yet last night wasn’t much of a party scene. Most Chinese spend new year's eve with family at home hanging out. Nothing special. The real celebration comes during the Chinese Lunar New Year later in January.
We followed our tradition of Japanese food for New Years Eve dinner, after a full day of work. It all started back in San Diego when we didn't make big plans, but rather went down to our favorite sushi restaurant. This year we selected “Sun over Aqua,” on Shanghai's riverfront/Bund area. The restaurant was relatively empty, and we were surprised by how few people seemed to be celebrating the holiday. The blue fin tuna was fabulous. In fact, we did a tuna sampling as part of our menu.
After dinner, we joined thousands of young Chinese friends/couples walking along the river front. Music played and trinkets were being sold. We’d share photos, but somehow Lila’s digital camera disappeared that night (pick-pocketed?!). What a lousy way to end 2008.
The real highlight was watching the red lanterns float away. Groups of people would light a candle-like base of a red-paper balloon. Think of a hot air balloon, fueled by its base. The kids would write on the lantern. Our Chinese is limited but we could tell a few of the “loves” and “luck” messages. The base would be lit, and the kids would release the float/lantern/balloon, and it would float up into the sky and down the river. Magical! (of course, not quite envioronmentally friendly!)
We got back home around 12:10. We were hitting our limit of staying out, so we spent the final minutes of '08 in the car with Peter the driver, counting down with the radio in Chinese. Once home, we watched fireworks surround our home from our balcony. Over here, private citizens can purchase fireworks – and not the whimpy American kind. One of our neighbors put on a full 15-minute pyrotechnic show. It was amazing, but we were happy to watch afar. Our apartment is on the 7th floor with low rise neighborhoods surrounding, so we had a lovely view across several small fireworks shows. Apparently Chinese New Years gets really crazy with firecrackers and fireworks.
Today has been running errands at the tailor and fabric market. The streets are empty. Western restaurants are closed. It’s a nice, slow way to start 2009. Here's to a fabulous year ahead!