It’s the year of the Dragon, folks! We’ve been celebrating all week at the W+K Shanghai office and I had the privilege of participating in the festivities for our Chinese New Year party last night. I got to be part of the dragon dance and I even tried my hand at Chinese calligraphy! Probably not legible to anyone that actually reads Chinese, but it was fun anyway. (I think it says something about the four seasons and hoping for increased prosperity?)

One of my favorite things about Shanghai are the endless mazes of quaint little lanes. When we first visited, we had no idea this other world existed. Shanghai was a megalopolis, a feverish, sprawling, Bladerunner set. Dizzying lights, piercing sounds, impending death at every intersection–the world’s worst place for a migraine headache.

But on every block of this insanity, there is an unmarked door to a hidden world. When we moved to Shanghai, we discovered that even outsiders like us could walk through the looking glass and see the other side of Shanghai. The alleys (or lanes as they’re called) are quiet, beautiful little communities–old ladies doing laundry, men doing tai chi, house cats prowling, and everyone gives you a friendly smile.

It’s no secret: we love food. We’ve been cooking at home a lot lately, so we treated ourselves to a brunch at the Jean Georges restaurant on the Bund. The view of the Pudong skyline was like a postcard and the food was over-the-top good. We’ll definitely be going back on special occasions.

Tonight I joined some classmates and instructors from Mandarin Tree Language School for a lesson in dumpling making. Having already learned from dumpling making pro Dr. Jen Li, this was a bit of a review for me.  My favorite part of the cooking lesson was getting a tour of the local Chinese market.

Highlight: Meeting the jolly noodle man who makes his living from making and selling noodles of all shapes and sizes.  I will definitely be going back there.

Low point: Seeing a little turtle being butchered.  Had to walk away

At the end of the night, I brought the yummy dumplings I made home and shared them with Bryan.  Nice and warming on a cold, rainy Shanghai night.

Our second week in Shanghai, I enrolled in language classes.  Monday through Friday, 10am-noon every day, I am in language class.  Jinna, my instructor, is from a small town (of 2 million) about 3 hours from Shanghai.  It’s been interesting to hear her perception of “westerners.”  One example – all westerners love xiaolongbao (Shanghainese soup dumplings).  Ok, that one might be true…

Today in class I had to create a conversation using 2 word cues for each sentence.  For example… “Would you like to eat dumplings?  I ______ dumplings, but I would like noodles.”  Simple enough, right?   My response was “I don’t want dumplings, but I would like noodles.”  She looked at me very confused.  She taught me a valuable lesson today about the art of declining.  Apparently the correct response was “Would you like to eat dumplings? I like dumplings, but today I would like noodles.”

I know there are books about this type of thing (we probably own them), but it just doesn’t come naturally.

We’re starting to get the hang of taxis, especially Kari Ann!

To say this Christmas was a little different than the usual would be a bit of an understatement. Surprisingly, perhaps because of western influence, the Shanghainese celebrate Christmas in their own way. Toy soldiers that tower over a 4-story shopping center, a giant fairyland of neon lights and music outside of Jing’An Temple, and of course every Starbucks and hotels like the Waldorf Astoria are decked out with garland and wreaths. Despite the sporadic decor, we weren’t feeling like it was Christmas… until Saturday night.

Slowly on Saturday we began feeling a but more of the Christmas spirit. We streamed Christmas music on my laptop, and then stopped by a Christmas eve party. Finally, sitting in the Shanghai Grand Theater, as we watched a Christmas eve dreamland come alive, our Christmas seemed to arrive. The Nutcracker put on by the Shanghai Ballet was absolutely stunning!

On Christmas day we opened one gift each, went to a lovely English brunch, and then headed to Shanghai Community Fellowship for Christmas day services. During the service a visiting musician, who plays a traditional Chinese instrument and is known for her work on the soundtrack of Crouching Tiger Hidden
Dragon, played Christmas carols and was accompanied by a local opera singer. Wow. It was heavenly.

Despite missing family and friends tremendously, we enjoyed discovering Christmas here. Of course being able to Skype with our family and friends back home helps keep the season bright, so please feel free to email, comment on our blog, etc.

City Beat Awards Show @ Mao Livehouse

Booshkabash Music Festival @ The Mixing Room

An evening stroll over the electric blue highway

Holiday decor is alive and quite bright in Shanghai

Alain de Botton got it right. Case and point, Y+ yoga studio’s new location on Anfu lu.  After one trial session, it’s difficult to imagine practicing yoga anywhere else.  With lofted space and skylights galore, the space evokes a sense of peace in the midst of the frenetic streets of Shanghai.

I met a giant Confucius this weekend at the amazing Rockbund Art Museum in Shanghai.