Chinese New Year 2005

This is what I wrote in Feb this year....It was Chinese New year here in Shanghai...Hope you enjoy it!



I just had to get up and write this out..I don't think I could have slept otherwise!

It was the 8th night (feb 2005), One night before Chinese New Year!
People had told us that it would be really colourful...But as far as I was concerned there was nothing great till 1030 that night....I mean our houses are more lit up and decorated on Diwali in India...

I got ready to go to bed at 1030. Read a little and then tried to sleep... There were sounds of pataka's (fire crackers) and ladi's but it wasn't much!

Just as I kind of got some sleep...All of a sudden there was non stop noise! So much of that one just could not sleep...even if they tried!
The dark room was all lit up by all the light outside! It was totally crazy...even if you had the curtains drawn.. the light was fighting its way into your room!
I had to get up and see what all the fuss was about...
It was about quater to 12 in the night... All I had to do was life my head to look out the window..
And it was gorgeous!
There were fireworks everywhere!:) It looked like shooting stars all over!!
It was very very noisy... but that didn't seem to matter after a little while!
The colours were soo enchanting and beautiful...
BLue, Red, Green, Yellow, Gold, Silver, Purple, Orange...And soo many more!
There was constant noise of the ladi's going on at the back...
Like the one's that are really long...like 1km.
THis is like Diwali for them, Just that the Chinese are totally mad when it comes to fire works!:)

I could see all the different types of fireworks..near and far....you could see quite a bit away..
But it only took a matter of five mins or so for the city of Shanghai to dissappear right before my very eyes... Apart from the four big buildings closest to my apartment complex, I could see NOTHING....
No houses, no buildings...small or big....ABSOLUTLY NOTHING!
I decided to go out in the balcony to have a look.. It was gorgeous!
The people outside our building were bursting the most beautiful fire crackers... And it was all there...right in front of me!!
Soo close!! It was beautiful...Brought quite the smile to my face!
But unfortunately I could not stand there for more than five mins..
It got way too smoky for me to be standing there.. I could breath and sense the pollution... In my throat!

Once I got back in ...I got back in my bed and was still looking out my window. I could see the fireworks close by! and a few specs which were the fireworks happening at a distance!
Because of the cloud of smoke, you could not really make out much!
It was about 1235 at night and the firerackers were still going strong!
There were less of fireworks in the sky...but the noise was still there going strong!
It was totally crazy..I just could not stay in bed...I had to write about it!

Hope you maybe tried and imagined how my Chinese New Year started!:)

Its a shame something this beautiful comes with a price... A price of pollution...
In which the beautiful city of Shanghai was lost in for a few days!

Kung Hei Fat Choi....Which means happy chinese new year....to all of you!