Happy Year of the Monkey // 猴年快乐

Two new year celebrations in one year? I can dig it.

Growing up I didn’t even know that that was possible. With the rapid development and globalization of Asian countries and the growing influence of Asian culture I am sure everyone will soon realize that there are two (and more) calendars out there which means YES TWO NEW YEARS! Even more reasons to celebrate.

Just 1.5 months ago I was back in my hometown Raleigh, NC celebrating the new year the American/Gregorian way. Spending time with loved ones, dancing to amazing music, eating delicious food and drinking one’s way into 2016. That’s the only way I’ve ever known how to bring in a new year… but this year I discovered another.

I am happy to say that this year I was finally in China during the Lunar New Year/Spring Festival celebrations. I had always heard rumors about this time of year, like “Oh the city is deserted, getting a taxi is so easy!”, “All the restaurant close for like a week, you better stock up on the good stuff” and “It’s so loud with fireworks, don’t even try to sleep.”

Despite the pros and cons it was a cultural event I needed to experience for myself and experiencing it I am.

Saturday evening I was kindly invited by Avery’s family to attend a special Chinese New Year’s eve dinner. In my mind, and I don’t know why, I imagined we would be eating out and having a big celebration so I dressed to the occasion but everyone else was dressed in their sweats and hoodies. Oops. To my surprise it was a relatively casual albeit delicious homemade dinner. Grandmother prepared some amazing vegetarian dishes that I had never tried before such as 如意菜 that is made of nearly 10 different vegetables which to me is HEAVEN.

Other dishes were sticky-rice stuffed lotus root, jellyfish, fresh eel, tofu & mushrooms, vegetable broth, pork & fresh bamboo shoots and an awesome celery & broccoli dish. I also tried soft-shell turtle for the first time and it tasted like nothing to be honest but it’s supposed to be really healthy for you, (but that’s the reason for eating everything). And this was just the beginning of my holiday experiences.

This evening I also received my first official 红包 hongbao. It may sound silly because this is such a common tradition but it was a pretty special moment for me. After all the years I have spent learning about China and this special holiday, I felt like I was actually experiencing the real thing. Also the hongbao was one of the prettiest I’ve ever seen. It felt particularly special because 2016 is my year, the year of the Monkey. A good way and good vibes to start off the new year! Now I have to find some red to wear all year to bring in good luck. Avery’s family was really serious when they said I should wear red underwear all year and that was great.

Sunday evening I visited the Bund with my friends, which is a classic thing to do during holidays. It was crowded as expected because all Chinese are on holiday right now and are out shopping, eating and spending their hongbao’s $$$!

It is always refreshing – being at the Bund where you can feel the immense energy of the city and stretch your mind in the wide open space. For my friends, it will be one of the last times they enjoy the Bund because they will soon leave Shanghai for Singapore. For me, it was a time to reflect and be thankful for a great 2015, but more so to look ahead to 2016 and prepare for all the good things soon to come.

So those have been the highlights of my New Years experience in China, however, there have been quite a few drawbacks too. Just last night, Tuesday, my friend Sarah and I had our own ‘real deal’ new year’s experience in the city. One of the worst things about this time of year is that EVERYTHING is closed! Except Family Mart but really? Finding good food is literally like an expedition and we realized this last night.

We set on our way to grab dinner at a favorite burger joint Rachel’s for a Tuesday BOGO special. We totally forgot that there may be the chance that it was closed for the holiday, so alas, when we arrived we discovered that it was indeed closed. We thought we’d try another favorite restaurant Pistacchio just down the road, so we walked 10 minutes there to discover it was closed as well, and Coconut Paradise our next backup was closed as well. Well, we decided we would walk down 15 mins two blocks down to another popular street and for sure Hunter Gatherer would be open. NOPE and neither were any of the other restaurants on Anfu lu.

Alright, alright, now we were really hungry and had to think strategically. We grabbed a cab and headed to Xintiandi hoping that the plethora of restaurants there would be open. We arrived around 8:45 to find that not only was Sproutworks closed, but so was Pho, Pizza Express all of the other tasty places! We were really loosing hope now. But finally… Din Tai Fung saved us. Sure we could’ve just gone to McDonald’s to begin with but the search was well worth it.

Other notes about my New Years experience in Shanghai:

1) It is absolutely quiet this year because the government forbid fireworks as a result of the 2015 New Years stampede catastrophe. I view this as a good thing but the quietness is really not the traditional way to celebrate.
2) It really is so easy to get a taxi!
3) Can’t order anything off Taobao. Well you can, but it won’t be delivered for a week. Sad.
4) Food delivery is very slow because all the delivery guys are on holiday. I have been slightly spoiled.
5) The city is empty because all of the non-local Chinese have commuted to their hometowns.
6) I noticed that Shanghai puts on more of a show and display for Christmas compared to Chinese New Year. There really aren’t much decorations or things that add to the New Year atmosphere. Maybe because it’s not my habit to celebrate this holiday, but I thought that was a bit strange.
7) Astrill and most VPNs have been absolutely destroyed by the Chinese government. Not only can I not access Google and basic social media sites for work but I also can’t access Snapchat and Tinder! What is this!

Also, I love Neko Atsume because it’s about cute cats, it doesn’t require VPN and you can pretty much play offline. Thanks sis love ya.

Well that’s about it. Now that the Spring Festival has begun I’m ready for Spring!