HAPPY CHINESE NEW YEAR . . . .

This week is Chinese New Year.  It is the year of the Rabbit.  This is Jason's year.  I wish it could have been last year while we were there.  But that's okay.   

People born in the Year of the Rabbit are articulate, talented, and ambitious. They are virtuous, reserved, and have excellent taste. Rabbit people are admired, trusted, and are often financially lucky. They are fond of gossip but are tactful and generally kind. Rabbit people seldom lose their temper. They are clever at business and being conscientious, never back out of a contract. They would make good gamblers for they have the uncanny gift of choosing the right thing. However, they seldom gamble, as they are conservative and wise. They are most compatible with those born in the years of the Sheep, Pig, and Dog. 

That's actually a pretty good description of Jason.  He's very articulate.  He's also very talented, especially at drawing and creating things.  (Of course I could just be a little partial)!  ;)

Anyway, I thought I would post some pictures from LAST year's Chinese New Year, so you can see what we saw while we were there.  Last year was the year of the Tiger.

 There were fireworks right outside of our building.  I did my best to take pictures, but as you can tell, they didn't exactly turn out great.  It was much prettier in person, but at least you can get an idea of what we saw.

 I LOVE fireworks.  They were so pretty.

 There were so many that it started getting really cloudy, really fast!

This is just a small portion of the debris that was on the ground after everything was done.  But it was all picked up and cleaned by the next morning!

 Jason was the only one of the kids that stayed outside the whole time.  It was too loud for Sarah and Andrew so they went back inside after a short time.  Plus, as you can tell, it was VERY cold.

 More Fireworks in the sky.

 They were so pretty.  I wish the pictures had turned out better.

 This one's not too bad.  It's a little cloudy, but that's because it was so cloudy outside from all of them being set off.

Look at all the clouds of smoke!

I have a lot more pictures, but those are the best ones.  Chinese New Year is pretty cool.  The kids are out of school for the week.  All of the businesses close.  Jack, Ryan's grandfather came last year during Chinese New Year.  We thought that was a good time for him to come because the kids would be out of school and Ryan would be off work.  It was REALLY cold, but I'm still glad he came during that time because he was able to spend more time with Ryan and the kids, and not just me and Sarah!  I think he had a good time.  I know we did.

This was taken at YuYuan.  It's a famous place in Shanghai.  I think I've posted pictures and told you about it before.  There is a very famous Tea House there.  It was very pretty, but VERY cold.  I don't think Jack enjoyed it as much as he could have because it was so cold.

 Again, this was taken at YuYuan.  The architecture on the buildings is absolutely AMAZING!

 The Pearl Tower.  It's one of the famous places in Shanghai's Financial District.

 The mall.  Look at all the people.  It's crazy the number of people in Shanghai.  There are approximately 20 million people that live there.  How crazy is that?!

 One of our favorite places to eat was Little Sheep for Hot Pot.  I think Jack really enjoyed it.  It's very tasty.  Plus, we had our own little room so it was a little bit nicer.  That's Jack and I waiting for our food.  Now you see why I HATE having my picture taken, and I'm usually the one BEHIND the camera!

 That's Ryan holding up the meat before we put it in the pot.  It's lamb.  And it takes about 2-3 minutes for it to cook because the soup is so hot.

 Yes, we did have a Hooter's in Shanghai.  The Hooter's Girls LOVED Jack!

 

And of course they LOVED Sarah too!

We took Jack to the World Financial Tower which is the tallest building in Shanghai, and the 3rd or 4th tallest building in the world.  It was too high up for him.  He didn't want to stay that long.  This is him and Ryan standing in front of the window.  The view from up there is AMAZING!

He took this from our apartment.  This is the back of the apartment.  We lived on the 22nd floor, so we were able to see a lot of things.

One of the kids' favorite places, especially Sarah, was the Wild Animal Park.  We took this on the way out.  They just had this black bear standing there taking pictures with people.  It was pretty cool, and something you'd NEVER see here!

A few days before he left I took him shopping at the Underground.  That's the famous place to shop.  You have to bargain for everything.  It's a little overwhelming at times, but it can also be fun to feel like you got a "deal."

I think Jack enjoyed his visit with us during last year's Chinese New Year.  I know WE enjoyed it.  I wasn't ready for him to leave, but after spending 2 weeks with 5 people when you're used to living by yourself, I'm sure he was MORE than ready!