Happy New Year!

Friday, January 31, marked the beginning of the Year of the Horse. We celebrated the Chinese New Year by surrounding ourselves with Chinese people and eating Chinese food in the best Chinese restaurant in Lexington . . . Panda Cuisine (so say all the Chinese people we know).
  

The original plan was to make Chinese food at home, but then I came to my senses and decided to pay $60 to let someone else do it for me. I have to say, it was much more fun for me this way. Because of the huge influx of patrons over the weekend, the buffet was the only option. We told the kids to eat as MUCH as they wanted. Nay, we forced the kids to eat MORE. "We paid $15 for you to eat Chinese food. Heck yea you can have another five pieces of non-Chinese chocolate cake!"

Last year for Chinese New Year, we ate American food in China, as opposed to eating Chinese food in America. Oh the irony!

In our defense, we also visited Xi'an, where we saw the famed Terra Cotta Warriors.

How cool is that?!

 

We biked around the ancient city walls of Xi'an (just look at those clear, blue Chinese skies).

We took silly, touristy pictures of ourselves.

 

And along with McDonalds hamburgers, we ate delicious Chinese foods like quail eggs on a stick, lamb skewers, and mutton bread stew.  

 

Happy New Year! Xin Nian Kuai Le! 

It's amazing what a difference a year can make.

And yet some things don't seem to change.

* To see more of last year's Chinese New Year, check out posts here, here, here, here, and here.

Lantern Festival at Baotu Springs

The Lantern Festival occurs 15 days after New Year's Day and officially marks the end of the Chinese New Year festivities. We had planned to take an evening visit to Baotu Springs on the last weekend before the Lantern Festival to see their famed lantern decorations alight in all their glory, but instead, we spent the weekend at home throwing up. Not my first choice.

So, while Stayc was in the United States, and the weather was turning warmer, the kids and I decided to take a visit to Baotu Springs to pass a lovely Spring day. Lutece begged to go during the week when there would be less people. She is still traumatized by the last time we visited Baotu Springs.

When we arrived, we were delighted to find that all the Lantern Festival decorations were still up, although, of course, not lit up. Workers were dismantling the largest decorations, but it was clear they had just begun, and we were able to enjoy all the decorations . . . if two weeks late.

All the canals and springs were decked out in silk floats and flowers. It must have been marvelous at night to see them all lit up.

The Dragon boat float was my personal favorite. The scales were formed by old CDs. Ingenious.

The real reason for the visit, however, was the opportunity to play in the water. There are certain areas in the Park where some of the spring water is channeled into small streams and rivulets. I don't think they are designed with children in mind (although they may be), but they are always populated with children.

The kids had brought along all sorts of trinkets from home to use as "rafts" and floating devices. In effect, they created their own "sink or float" experiment. Lutece even brought along the boat she crafted months ago.

The kids could have stayed at the stream floating their lids and cardboard boxes for the better part of the day, but they started to attract a crowd, so we walked around for a little longer and then returned to the stream when we had shaken our onlookers.

You can see Baotu Spring bubbling up in the middle of the water.

At one point, a young woman who had been chatting with me in broken English commented, "They attract a lot of attention!" Yes, they certainly do. I didn't remind her that she and her friend were two of the people who had earlier been snapping pictures of the kids.

I notice that sometimes when I pull out my camera to take pictures of the kids, more people direct their own cameras at them. It's as if my taking pictures of them is a tacit invitation for others to take pictures of them too. They are MY kids, for goodness sake!

The Happy Buddha was another good float. One picture WITH mustache (above), one picture without.

Surprisingly, the kids are never more harassed in China than at the little-known tourist destination of Baotu Springs. I'm still trying to figure this one out. However, despite the picture-taking and the unwanted attention, we all had a good time.

The Year of the (Beaded) Snake

By the time we returned home from Xi'an and stepped officially into the Year of the Snake, our enthusiasm for all things New Year had fizzled significantly. I still had a couple of New Year's activities up my sleeve though, and I was darn well going to do them with the kids!

We read the story of the Kitchen God and learned about the Tray of Togetherness. The kids had to create their own Tray of Togetherness and write a short essay about what they would put in it and what each item symbolizes (writing!) They also wrote a menu for a Chinese restaurant . . . from their province of choice (more writing!). And we made beaded snakes to commemorate the Year of the Snake.

I tried to force the snake issue, but for some reason, these things always devolve into a lizard-beading session. Yes, the one pictured above is supposed to have only three legs. Perhaps he's been living downstream from Jinan's coal plant for too long.

 

There's no real reason for the last series of pictures, other than that I liked them. They capture my little girl.

Happy Year of the Snake!

p.s. I think I'm finally done with Chinese New Year. Whew.

Lucky Dumplings

I realize this is not the most well-plated dish I've ever posted. It may not inspire you to go out and eat a Chinese dumpling, but it clearly illustrates two aspects of Chinese New Year food: one important, one whimsical.

1. Dumplings are the main source of sustenance for families during Chinese New Year. If all the markets are closed, where do the Chinese get their food? If fact, they prepare it all ahead of time. In the weeks and days prior to Chinese New Year, the women of the house madly prepare food that can be refrigerated and frozen to be eaten during the days to come. Stayc's team teacher presented us with a large bag of homemade dumplings before we left for Xi'an, which we promptly froze in anticipation of our return to Jinan. (Thank goodness!)

2. During the Chinese New Year, dumplings often contain small lucky items, most notably, jiao, or coins (I found a tiny Euro in one of mine :). Lutece found a peanut in one of hers. What a fun tradition!

The REAL Face of Chinese New Year

When we returned home from Xi'an to Jinan two days after Chinese New Year, we found a ghost town. Our once busy marketplace was closed up for the New Year. There were some people out on the streets walking dogs or children, but for the most part, the streets were deserted and quiet.

Our neighborhood food market was also locked up tight with no signs of opening. (In fact, it didn't open back up until a full week after the holiday.) Since we had just come home to a nearly empty refrigerator after a six-day vacation, this was a little alarming. Fortunately, we had many food staples in our cabinets, and Stayc's lead teacher had given us a large batch of homemade dumplings for the New Year that were safely tucked away in our freezer. Still, a family needs some fresh food!

The only shop open was a fruit store. They were selling packaged fruit ready to be gifted.

We scoured the stores and markets within a two-mile radius of our apartment and found none open, but more than the usual amount of fruit and alcohol vendors on every corner.* Both items, it would seem, are common New Year's gifts. Vegetables, however, were in short supply, and by short supply, I mean non-existent. We finally found a small green-grocer open, and we greedily loaded up on fresh vegetables. It was an answer to my silent prayer.

For a full week after New Year's Day, there were fireworks every night. The kids were excited the first couple of nights, but they quickly lost interest after about the fourth night. There are only so many fireworks a person can take, especially when they start right about the time you are trying to go to sleep.

Thankfully, there was a lull in the fireworks during the second week after New Year's, but on the last day of the official holiday, the Lantern Festival, the firecrackers went off all day long and the fireworks all evening and into the night.

We had great plans to take the kids out on the night of the Lantern Festival to see all the children running around with their lanterns and to carry some of their own. Great plans, I tell you. However, even the best plans can go amiss. Alas, we all contracted the worst stomach virus we have ever experienced as a family on the weekend of the Lantern Festival. Stayc and I were the last to get it, and on the day of the Festival, we lay in bed all day long trying not to throw up while the kids (thankfully) played peacefully in their room. While we tried to get some much needed sleep, there was a war zone of fireworks going on in the streets below. It was, without a doubt, our worst day yet in China.

If I have to hear one more firework, I might just cry. Two full weeks of celebration is TOO long.

* The large supermarkets like Tesco and RT-Mart were open, but with slim fresh food offerings. In fact, so picked-over and unsavory were the vegetables at Tesco that I couldn't bring myself to buy any.

Xin Nian Kuai Le!

Lutece closed her eyes every time she blew her mustache. There were no pictures with open eyes.

Happy New Year!!!

Obviously Chinese New Year has also come and gone . . . well, not entirely gone, since the festivities technically last for 15 days until the full moon of the Lantern Festival. The daily firecrackers and nightly fireworks that lasted for an entire week have, at least, (mostly) ended. Whew.

As soon as we crossed the street, the lights on the Drum Tower went on and I wanted another picture.

We celebrated simply, but since Xi'an doesn't do anything simply (nor, I'm sure, does most of China), by default, we enjoyed a large, boisterous celebration. On New Year's Eve, as we walked back to our hotel in the evening, we purchased some small noisemakers for the kids that kept them occupied for . . . oh, for days, if truth be told. Now Lutece likes to detach the nose and mustache and just wear the glasses/eyebrows combo. Ever the individual.

Fireworks outside our apartment building in Jinan.

Chinese New Year is like nothing I've ever experienced in my life. I don't even have the words to describe it. It's like New Year's Eve, Christmas, Thanksgiving, and the Fourth of July all wrapped up into one big holiday. On New Year's Eve, the fireworks started as soon as it got dark at 7:00 p.m. and didn't end until . . . well, they didn't end. I think I finally just got too exhausted to stay awake and I fell asleep despite the war zone on the streets below.

Our hotel room in Xi'an was on the eighth floor, just about eye level for many of the fireworks that went off. It was the best fireworks show I have EVER seen. Someone on the street right below our room lit off fireworks at about 11:00 p.m. and they exploded literally in front of our window, the colored sparks hitting the glass. The whole sky was lit up for an hour between 11:00 and 12:00. It was amazing to see an entire city aglow for that long. 

I NEVER wake sleeping children, but that night I just couldn't help myself. We woke up the kids and dragged their limp bodies to the window so they could experience the excitement. Lutece stayed up for a bit to watch before begging to go back to sleep, but Phoenix never woke up, despite being walked across the room and nudged quite a bit. I finally carried him back to his bed and tucked him back into the cozy covers.

When we returned to Jinan two days after New Year's Day, the celebrations continued in our city. Again, the fireworks started as soon as the sun went down and lasted for a few hours every night. On Valentine's Day we bought some fancy sparklers from one of the many fireworks vendors set up all over the streets and set them off that night.

It was perfect timing since the celebrations on Valentine's Day were the biggest since New Year's Eve. Everyone was out doing fireworks, and we enjoyed not just our own sparklers, but the large fireworks in the area and the small ones right next to us.

I couldn't resist taking a picture of this family who lives in our apartment complex. They were having so much fun together shooting off what looked to be very unsafe fireworks :). The quintessential Chinese family activity. What absolutely floors me though is how HUGE this family is. THREE kids! Do you see that?! They lived in the US for eight years. You can bet at least two (if not three) of those children were born in the States.

I'm so glad we got to experience Chinese New Year in China, but boy, am I glad a week later that it's almost over!

Biking the Old City Walls

 

After a cold, wet morning and a cold, dry afternoon on Friday, we were grateful for the warmer, almost sunny weather that Saturday brought.* It was a perfect day to explore the ancient city wall of Xi'an . . . on bike no less.

The city wall of Xi'an is the oldest intact wall in China (older than the Great Wall), and it encloses the entire old city within its 14 km circumference. Once on the top, you can rent bikes for a reasonable price to ride all or some of the distance around the wall. Lutece had her heart set on riding her own bike, but alas, they only had adult bikes and tandem bikes. The choice was obvious.

Despite the hazy conditions, it was a fantastic excursion. You are situated above the city and can look down on the different quarters of the old city as you pass. Of course, not all of it as picturesque as the old hutongs (in fact, very little of it), but we can pretend it is.

The 14 kilometers turned out to be an easy ride, and we managed it easily within the 100 minutes allotted us for the bike rental. It was such a balmy day, and we all loved riding the tandem bikes, especially since we were among only a handful of tourists out on the wall that day.

Toward the end of our ride, we came across the wall's museum, which was closed. That didn't stop us from taking a break and some pictures. I'm glad we didn't spend the $3 at the Terra Cotta Warriors the day before to get a picture of the kids with fake clay soldiers (a photo-op at the site) when we could do it for free here! Ever the frugal family.

The funniest part is that I didn't even ask the kids to pose. They just did it naturally. The training takes time, but it eventually kicks in :).

Biking the old city wall turned out to be a wonderful way to spend the greater part of Chinese New Year's Eve. After we had finished biking and exploring, we walked the two miles to Little Goose Pagoda only to find that it was closed for the holiday. The gatekeeper told us to come back the next day for the big celebration. As it turns out, many of the sites were closed on New Year's Eve, but not on New Year's Day . . . which made us even more grateful that the old city wall had not only been open, but relatively deserted.

We took the subway back to the Drum Tower, ate lunch at McDonald's (to the great pleasure of the kids), and spent a couple of leisurely hours at the hotel watching CCTV, just like the rest of the Chinese populace. We are turning a little Chinese :).

* Actually, we never once saw the sun in Xi'an. There were a couple of days when it looked like it was trying to make an appearance, but it never quite managed to burn off the haze hiding it.

Of Bells and Drums

By the time we returned to the vicinity of our hotel after visiting the Terra Cotta Warriors, we were warm and rested and ready for more sightseeing. Still, we didn't want to venture too far from our hotel so late in the afternoon, so we decided it was a perfect time to visit the Bell and Drum Towers, both a five-minute walk from the hotel.

After I read this sign, I had to take a picture. Please note the last line. One letter makes all the difference :).

The Bell Tower just underwent renovations, so the most recent online reviews I read complained of the fact that it was closed. Renovations were scheduled to be completed by the beginning of February 2013. This delighted me because 1) I assumed renovations were supposed to be done in time for New Year, and 2) we have learned that the Chinese are nearly ALWAYS punctual.
 

Indeed, the Bell Tower was open with renovations completed!

We arrived just in time to catch the hourly performance of traditional Chinese bell music.

 

Lutece and Phoenix really enjoyed visiting the towers because they could climb up to the top of both of them. Climbing always wins points with the kids.

 

Another fun thing that I haven't yet mentioned about being in Xi'an during the Chinese New Year was the festive decorations. The entire city was dressed up with red lanterns large and small. The trees were covered in them, the streets were lined with them, and all the buildings, including famous sites, were graced by them. It felt more like Christmas than Christmas.

After exploring the Bell Tower, we walked over to the Drum Tower and by sheer luck* also caught the hourly drum performance there. This was Lutece's favorite part of the experience. It was so LOUD.

Trying to touch the tiny lanterns in the trees.

Even though it had been a very full day, there was still time for dinner at the Muslim Quarter and shopping! Lutece and Phoenix purchased their souvenirs, and then I dragged Lutece over to Zara** across the street and made her try on some fifty-percent-off clothes I had seen the day before. Fun for all!

* Also because they time the performances one half hour apart from each other. But since we didn't know this, it was sheer luck for us.

** In my attempt to see if Zara exists in the US, I found that the Spanish clothing chain is the world's largest retailer. Wow. (Do you know it Courtney?) The girl's clothing was very cute and very well priced. I let Lutece choose her own clothing (without even trying to influence her!) Double wow.