Chinese New Year in Shanghai: Bunnies Gone Wild

As a Rooster, Doug’s mortal enemy in Chinese astrology is the Rabbit. And lo, come tomorrow, we shall be fully immersed in the Year of the Rabbit. There are bunnies EVERYWHERE. It’s like Donnie Darko with lots of red and gold and glitter. There are sparkly cutout stickers of bunny silhouettes on department store glass doors. Shop windows have huge bunny heads placed atop mannequin necks, as if rabbits wore feathered Ugg boots and cute tops.  Most household doors are decorated with one of the cardboard cut out new year signs, all red and gold and boldly bunnied. Including ours, which is totally bling. Ours has a creepy glued on emerald rhinestone eye. The bunny is watching. All Roosters beware.

A mean streak a mile wide

The streets are nearly devoid of humans now. Sidewalks are walkable for the first time since, well, last year at this time.  There are no cars and only a few bicycles. Shops are shut, shutters slammed down. I’d say there ain’t nobody here but us chickens, except the Doomed Chickens seem to have packed up and gone home to their filial Doomed Chickens back in their hometown. I don’t have to reign in my inevitable wave of sadness when walking down our street, noting the bound ankles of the ducks and the hugely puffed feathers of the chickens shivering in their cages, a foot away from the blood and feathers of their companions.

Yes, walking is much easier now! Look!

Shanghai is now closed until further notice. Nothing to see here.
Alas, no El Gato Verde quesadillas until mid February!
No doomed birds! But fruit! Gift boxed fruit!

Did I mention the fruit? The stacks of gift boxed oranges and the reddest of apples with characters written into the skin (how?), side by side with tables laden with explosives: red paper wrapped firecrackers coiled like rounds of semi automatic bullets; bunny-emblazoned stacks of fireworks.

Not the explosive fruit.

Out in the streets is the detritus of spent explosions. The air reeks of salt peter and brimstone. In the day time, kids let off rounds of firecrackers on the sidewalks: bangbangbangbang. Now, at night, our neighbourhood is alight with the loveliest of fireworks coming from all directions.  We are the 16th floor of the tallest building in our neighbourhood, overlooking the laneways of the french concession. Those dudes down there are serious about their pyrotechnics. We have a 180 degree view over west Shanghai and oh, we ain’t sleeping tonight.

As I said on Twitter: boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom boom.

We ran out of real batteries for the real camera. Here, look at the crappy phone pic of the fireworks!
Oh look! Pretty explosions on our street!

My father is playing the banjo accompaniment to the fireworks.

ETA (at 1:21 am, fireworks still going strong): Here’s a little video I made tonight. I turned the sound down for your comfort. This is a noisy evening. Sorry about the width.



9 thoughts on “Chinese New Year in Shanghai: Bunnies Gone Wild”

    • It is quite impressive… though I must say the noise is deafening! I’ve never in my life been bombarded by so many fire crackers or fireworks in such close proximity for so many hours in a row, ceaselessly! My ears are ringing! Luckily they are easing up slightly now that it’s nearly half past midnight. The building is no longer shaking but it’s still quite prolific!

      Am sending you a virtual astral hong bao! That kind isn’t dependent on marital status!

  • I’m ever so glad I found your blog, in a truly roundabout way, but here I am. I’m going to visit Shanghai in September, now I know where to look for advice. And, BTW, what I love best is useless advice!!! So much more fun.

    • Am very glad you found me, in whatever roundabout way it took you! I totally enjoy giving out utterly irrelevant, impractical, useless advice, especially if it can be illustrated by a poorly focused phone photo featuring a mop, a doomed chicken or something totally unidentifiable! Feel free to pop in and ask questions anytime!

  • What is the food like at El Gato Verde? I’ve walked past a few times and it’s never been food time (weird as that might be).

    I got out of Shanghai early and returned on the 3rd, so missed the big fireworks night. Back at work now, sadly, but am still in partial holiday mode (especially since nobody else is in the office!).

    Happy New Year and have a great holiday!

    • The food at El Gato is quite good in a simple, no frills kind of way- we go for Saturday lunches or weeknight dinners when we’re working late and too tired to cook. Stuff like enchiladas, burritos, very good quesadillas, awesome homemade chicken tortilla soup. They use the same five or so ingredients for all their thngs so not a huge variety in flavour— but it’s all good.

      Didn’t you get a week off for the new year?

    • Thanks! It was very overwhelming from our flat. Like Lebanon during an airstrike or suchlike. Isn’t the bunny awesome? I blame that bunny for my sleeplessness over new years!

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