The Way of Slow Travel Articles, tips, and stories about Slow Travel
The Year of the Rooster is here! Once again, Spring Festival this year reminded me how much of a blast (no pun intended) it is to be in China around this time. We had an awesome dinner at our friend’s parents’ home for New Year’s Eve, and we got to enjoy the fireworks all through the week afterwards. More on the fireworks later.
The New Year’s Eve dinner was one of these opulent Chinese dinners which put even the most lavish dinners in the West to shame. (Except Julie’s… Those kick ass!) I assure you, I am not exagerating when I say this: If you have not experienced Chinese dinners before and are invited to one at a friend’s home, try to eat only a little bite out of every dish. With someluck, you might still have some room left when the final dish arrives. Add to this the fact that food is both abundant and absolutely delicious, and it makes every such dinner a night to remember!
To our dear friend 黄卓隽, aka Aline:
谢谢你! 你的爸妈做的饭最好吃!**
I promised some pictures of the Spring Festival decorations a few days ago… Here are pictures from the building where the studio is located. I find them to be classy and so entirely new to my Western eye that I can’t help but marvel.
In the following days, I will post photos and videos of World War Three, also known as Spring Festival fireworks in Shanghai.
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- A giant sign with the character for ‘fortune’
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- More decorations, including the famous grinning girl, good luck coins, firecrackers, and the fish, symbol of fortune
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- “Money Fruit”, a very peculiar fruit seen only around the time of Spring Festival. You guessed it: it brings… good fortune.
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- Firecracker decorations, in the entrance doorway to the building.
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- This decoration from Xu Jia Hui (the largest shopping district in Shanghai) takes the Tacky Trophy: it’s a giant rooster almost entirely made out of… Coke cans. Yes, yes, I know.
*: Happy Year of the Rooster! (Ji Nian Kuai Le!)
**: Thank you! Your parents’ cooking is the best!
