A Pigtacular New Year

For the "real" new year I've come here to Shanghai with a couple of friends to see the sights, blah, etc. Shanghai's a funny choice, since during the new year holiday most people go home, which means many of Shanghai's migrant workers leave the city seeming a little quieter. Shanghai is also really modern and not-so-chinese, which is interesting, but mostly just makes us Beijingers feel like some country folk from Nebraska. The new year itself was a lot like Thanksgiving, X-mas, and New Years rolled into one: food, family, fireworks, and of course, tv. The fireworks were easily the highlight, since apparently every one of our neighbors bought the "super-mega show in a box". The sparks have been flying for at least three days now. I suppose given they invented the stuff, the chinese have earned the right to scare a few demons away. Tomorrow we're going to somewhere else, and after that to another nearby place, below are photos of some Shanghai curiosities. Thanks to all the folks who wrote with advice and thoughts on the previous post, I'm still thinking that one over, but I'll try to get back to those of you who wrote me soon.

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The ecoing of mortars says otherwise. What gets me is that this sign has clearly been up for a long time, I wonder if this is a year-round problem.