I have only been in China for 5 days now, but it has certainly been an experience. I spent the first four days in Shanghai before flying to Xiamen, a city in southwest China. I arrived on Tuesday and Chinese New Year (CNY) took place on Friday. I could never have expected the influence that that would have on our trip.
Chinese New Year is based on the lunar calendar, and usually occurs in late January, February, or early March. It is one of the few national holidays and as a result, the largest human migration happens. It is tradition to go and visit your family during this time. It is said that if a girl brings her boyfriend home with her over CNY, then he must marry her (marriage is incredibly important here). Since everyone travels home, cities like Shanghai end up being very empty and closed down. While this is probably a welcome relief for Shanghai residents, it makes its very hard to gain an understanding of the city if it’s your first time there.
Our first encounter with the effects of CNY was two days before, when our food tour that we had scheduled two months ago, was cancelled unexpectedly. In a hurry, we booked another one. That evening, when we showed up for the tour, we were the only ones there. We asked our guide about this and he said that it is very hard for tour companies to show off the local food since most restaurants are closed. As such, our food tour was missing some major elements of Shanghai cuisine, such as xiaolongbao, or soup dumplings. Regardless, it was still a good way to see parts of the city. These closures became even more apparent the next day, New Year’s Eve, when we spent over an hour trying to simply find an open restaurant.
On New Year’s Eve, we spent the evening making dumplings at our hostel. Dumplings are an important part of the New Year’s Eve feast, and so we made both pork and cabbage variations. They were good, and it was cool to learn how to fold them properly. We sat around eating dumplings and watching the Olympics. My aunt and I were planning to go down to the Bund (walkway along the river in Shanghai) to watch fireworks at midnight. Unfortunately, I accidentally passed out at 8:30 PM and did not awaken until 4:00 AM. I couldn’t find any pictures online of the fireworks so I’m not even sure if they actually happened, but I’m going to tell myself they didn’t, so I don’t feel bad about passing out.
The next day was New Year’s Day and so everyone wears red and cleans their property. The streets were pretty empty and the only restaurants open were chains (we ate breakfast at a place called Mr. Pancake and I drank coffee out of a Dallas Cowboys mug). Despite this, it was neat to see the city without the millions upon millions of people who usually inhabit its streets.
Chinese New Year is a big family time and that has been very apparent here in Xiamen. Xiamen is a major destination for domestic tourism, and it is currently crowded to the brim with tourists (public buses literally have passengers pressed up against the windows). I have not seen many foreigners here, which is unusual after spending time in Shanghai. However, as we move further from the beginning of Chinese New Year (celebrations last for fifteen days), shops and restaurants have begun to reopen, and the country is coming back to life. While it was cool to see how different people celebrate CNY, I’m also very excited to see Shanghai in all its hustling, bustling glory.