shanghai during chinese new year

[Blake]

hello all! i'll be traveling to china on thursday for a week. while i'll be going to beijing and shanghai, i've put myself in shanghai during the chinese new year. anyone ever been during the chinese new year celebration? what are some good things to do/places to be? i'll be staying at the le royal meridien near people's square while i'm in shanghai. TIA

[ES_TRADER]

That is the worst time of year to go...All the shops are closed for at least 5 days, and u get thousands of people on the street, on EVERY street, setting off fireworks from 6pm till 7-8am EVERY morning...cant catch a cab (unless u fight for it), cant sleep, cant breathe, your ears will be ringing, AND the whole goddam city smells like gunpowder...the city already smells like smog and pollution shit w/o the fireworks..this makes it 100times worse!.....i lived in shanghai for 4 years, after the first 2 chinese new years spent there, i bolted out of town anytime there was a celebration of some sort...it would also drive my dogs crazy....restaurants are open tho...good luck!

[Blake]

Originally Posted by richpuer

That is the worst time of year to go...All the shops are closed for at least 5 days, and u get thousands of people on the street, on EVERY street, setting off fireworks from 6pm till 7-8am EVERY morning...cant catch a cab (unless u fight for it), cant sleep, cant breathe, your ears will be ringing, AND the whole goddam city smells like gunpowder...the city already smells like smog and pollution shit w/o the fireworks..this makes it 100times worse!.....i lived in shanghai for 4 years, after the first 2 chinese new years spent there, i bolted out of town anytime there was a celebration of some sort...it would also drive my dogs crazy....restaurants are open tho...good luck!

is it usually the eve and day after that are so hectic? i'm not really concerned about street-level noise as i'll be posted up on the 61st floor in a suite at the LRM. i've always got my bose headset and ear plugs if it's really that bad. besides, i'm a tourist...i want to be out with the crowds.

[ES_TRADER]

Originally Posted by Blake

is it usually the eve and day after that are so hectic? i'm not really concerned about street-level noise as i'll be posted up on the 61st floor in a suite at the LRM. i've always got my bose headset and ear plugs if it's really that bad. besides, i'm a tourist...i want to be out with the crowds.

its the week before...ramping up (excited kids who just cant wait for the week of)....then THE week OF (this is WW THREE)...then the week after (people using up what they didnt get to use during the week of).

but man, i lived on the 58th floor of a building and i had shit coming onto my balcony...to each his own tho...i hate crowds, and expecially CHINESE crowds..they are the worst of humankind...for instance, i was trying to sit down in a crowded subway train, well..i finally scouted out a seat and began to bend my knees to sit down...all of a sudden, a 70year old person, did this crazy move and somehow got into the seat while my ass was probably 6 inches away from touching it...i ended up sitting on top of him.

Then, there's the elevator (which is the same for buses, subways and such)...as u get to the ground floor to exit the car, the moment the door opens, u have 30 people rushing in, piledriving ur ass right back in....pushing all those trying to get out, into the back, and u end up riding the elevator back up with them because u didnt fight for ur life to get out of the car, tying to be a polite tourist....along the lines of that, i will give u some words of wisdom here...Dont forget that u have Elbows and use them to accordingly push and shove to get in and out...they work wonders.

[Blake]

Originally Posted by richpuer

its the week before...ramping up (excited kids who just cant wait for the week of)....then THE week OF (this is WW THREE)...then the week after (people using up what they didnt get to use during the week of).

but man, i lived on the 58th floor of a building and i had shit coming onto my balcony...to each his own tho...i hate crowds, and expecially CHINESE crowds..they are the worst of humankind...for instance, i was trying to sit down in a crowded subway train, well..i finally scouted out a seat and began to bend my knees to sit down...all of a sudden, a 70year old person, did this crazy move and somehow got into the seat while my ass was probably 6 inches away from touching it...i ended up sitting on top of him.

Then, there's the elevator (which is the same for buses, subways and such)...as u get to the ground floor to exit the car, the moment the door opens, u have 30 people rushing in, piledriving ur ass right back in....pushing all those trying to get out, into the back, and u end up riding the elevator back up with them because u didnt fight for ur life to get out of the car, tying to be a polite tourist....along the lines of that, i will give u some words of wisdom here...Dont forget that u have Elbows and use them to accordingly push and shove to get in and out...they work wonders.

sounds like i'm in for an interesting time...

[JayKay335i]

Blake hovers above crowds. No worries.

[Kroy]

Originally Posted by richpuer

its the week before...ramping up (excited kids who just cant wait for the week of)....then THE week OF (this is WW THREE)...then the week after (people using up what they didnt get to use during the week of).

but man, i lived on the 58th floor of a building and i had shit coming onto my balcony...to each his own tho...i hate crowds, and expecially CHINESE crowds..they are the worst of humankind...for instance, i was trying to sit down in a crowded subway train, well..i finally scouted out a seat and began to bend my knees to sit down...all of a sudden, a 70year old person, did this crazy move and somehow got into the seat while my ass was probably 6 inches away from touching it...i ended up sitting on top of him.

Then, there's the elevator (which is the same for buses, subways and such)...as u get to the ground floor to exit the car, the moment the door opens, u have 30 people rushing in, piledriving ur ass right back in....pushing all those trying to get out, into the back, and u end up riding the elevator back up with them because u didnt fight for ur life to get out of the car, tying to be a polite tourist....along the lines of that, i will give u some words of wisdom here...Dont forget that u have Elbows and use them to accordingly push and shove to get in and out...they work wonders.

tell me about it man... it's like the whole country stops for 3 weeks. can't get shit done. also your stories about the fireworks and elevator are true based on all stories i've heard. i haven't been to China yet, but will probably go soon.

curious... are you asian?

[Blake]

Originally Posted by JayKay335i

Blake hovers above crowds. No worries.

you're always mad, bro.

[ES_TRADER]

Originally Posted by Kroy

tell me about it man... it's like the whole country stops for 3 weeks. can't get shit done. also your stories about the fireworks and elevator are true based on all stories i've heard. i haven't been to China yet, but will probably go soon.

curious... are you asian?

dude, beleive me, im not exagerrating u will see it with ur own 2 eyes....and YES..i am..i do business there and i go back and forth...it just gets worse and worse everytime.

its not that they are bad people or anything...its just that when u have an infinite number of people living in a finite space, ur just gonna get this kind of behavior...its completely normal to them and when u do find urself shoving someone, they dont even look at u funny or get mad...ITS JUST LIFE and THE NORM!

but in the US, u walk downtown in LA or NYC and shove someone with ur elbow...even if its an accident and u BARELY touch them like ur jacket comes in contact with theirs, u gonna get SHOT!

[JayKay335i]

Originally Posted by Blake

you're always mad, bro.

Nahhh. Blake

OPs OG. Blakes the man.

[Year's_End]

Originally Posted by JayKay335i

Blake hovers above crowds. No worries.

lmao

[Joonsup]

Originally Posted by richpuer

its the week before...ramping up (excited kids who just cant wait for the week of)....then THE week OF (this is WW THREE)...then the week after (people using up what they didnt get to use during the week of).

but man, i lived on the 58th floor of a building and i had shit coming onto my balcony...to each his own tho...i hate crowds, and expecially CHINESE crowds..they are the worst of humankind...for instance, i was trying to sit down in a crowded subway train, well..i finally scouted out a seat and began to bend my knees to sit down...all of a sudden, a 70year old person, did this crazy move and somehow got into the seat while my ass was probably 6 inches away from touching it...i ended up sitting on top of him.Then, there's the elevator (which is the same for buses, subways and such)...as u get to the ground floor to exit the car, the moment the door opens, u have 30 people rushing in, piledriving ur ass right back in....pushing all those trying to get out, into the back, and u end up riding the elevator back up with them because u didnt fight for ur life to get out of the car, tying to be a polite tourist....along the lines of that, i will give u some words of wisdom here...Dont forget that u have Elbows and use them to accordingly push and shove to get in and out...they work wonders.

lol

[mrgoochio]

Originally Posted by richpuer

That is the worst time of year to go...All the shops are closed for at least 5 days, and u get thousands of people on the street, on EVERY street, setting off fireworks from 6pm till 7-8am EVERY morning...cant catch a cab (unless u fight for it), cant sleep, cant breathe, your ears will be ringing, AND the whole goddam city smells like gunpowder...the city already smells like smog and pollution shit w/o the fireworks..this makes it 100times worse!.....i lived in shanghai for 4 years, after the first 2 chinese new years spent there, i bolted out of town anytime there was a celebration of some sort...it would also drive my dogs crazy....restaurants are open tho...good luck!

lmao couldn't agree more. chinese new years is the worst time to be in china. everyone goes back home to their villages to visit their families and everything is closed. I spent 2+ years in shanghai as well and ill tell u the only things i've done during chinese new years was drink beer at home, eat mcdonalds, and then hit the foreign nightlife spots that still have some people left in them.

edit: i'm asian, learned to speak mandarin when I got there, and my elbows have been used on multiple occasion.

i'd like to add that there are pros and cons to being an asian foreigner in china.. you get harassed WAY less when walking through certain areas. if you can blend in, they won't be mr grabby hands all over your arms and shoulders trying to get your attention. i've seen white people being pulled around by the locals to buy some useless junk way too many times. a disadvantage is that if you dont speak chinese and u look like youre chinese, locals cant understand wtf is going on and sometimes look down upon you. kinda funny imo

[FStop7]

walk up and down the streets screaming the lyrics of Bran's Freestyle by CKY

[Simsims]

just because you're not accustomed to the chinese new years tradition doesn't mean you should bash it.

It's like putting some random chinese dood at times square watching a million people kissing when the ball drops. he's prolly thinkin wtf too, everyone's kissin when someone's balls dropped.

As far as bad manners go... can't help it. When you've got 1.5billion people competing (by that I mean trying to live), things do go wrong. Some of them are simply A-holes. Just ignore

[mrgoochio]

Originally Posted by Simsims

just because you're not accustomed to the chinese new years tradition doesn't mean you should bash it.

It's like putting some random chinese dood at times square watching a million people kissing when the ball drops. he's prolly thinkin wtf too, everyone's kissin when someone's balls dropped.

As far as bad manners go... can't help it. When you've got 1.5billion people competing (by that I mean trying to live), things do go wrong. Some of them are simply A-holes. Just ignore

talking to me? i'm not bashing tradition, i'm saying its the worst time for a foreigner to visit the country. there isn't jack shit to do for someone like us. all the locals do their own family stuff, foreigners get excluded and for good reason. its time for them to celebrate by visiting their homes and families of which they probably only get to do 1-2 times a year. i'm half chinese, i do my own chinese new years stuff, but back in the states. i would dread spending it in shanghai.

[Blake]

i've found a few people and event on asmallworld that i plan to attend. maybe it won't be so bad as everyone claims

[JayKay335i]

I'm sure you'll have a good time. One way or another.

[ES_TRADER]

Originally Posted by Blake

i've found a few people and event on asmallworld that i plan to attend. maybe it won't be so bad as everyone claims

you will have a good time...that is for sure...but its nothing like the festivities we see here in the US Chinatowns with dancing dragons and parades and stuff like that..those were invented in the USA...like the other poster said, its more a time for them locals to visit their families and such, so basically dead for travelers...but u got friends or find some, u can still explore..the country isnt closed..just the stores...and it sucks cuz if u want to go and get a suit or clothes tailor made, that whole district is closed...so depending on how long ur stay is, u gotta work it out around them....u can get really nice custom made suits..comparable to armani for under $150 bucks. my dad came to visit me during my 1st year in sh, and we thought it would be a good idea for him to come and see china during the festivities...well, there were none...and we were a bit disappointed, but still...had a good time...

[Simsims]

bah i'm sure there's always a girl or two around that would just glue to any foreigners they can find. Dunno why, but sh girls r like that..

[abisson]

I am going to be in Singapore... wonder how it will be...?

[gun6slinger9]

Originally Posted by richpuer

you will have a good time...that is for sure...but its nothing like the festivities we see here in the US Chinatowns with dancing dragons and parades and stuff like that..those were invented in the USA...like the other poster said, its more a time for them locals to visit their families and such, so basically dead for travelers...but u got friends or find some, u can still explore..the country isnt closed..just the stores...and it sucks cuz if u want to go and get a suit or clothes tailor made, that whole district is closed...so depending on how long ur stay is, u gotta work it out around them....u can get really nice custom made suits..comparable to armani for under $150 bucks. my dad came to visit me during my 1st year in sh, and we thought it would be a good idea for him to come and see china during the festivities...well, there were none...and we were a bit disappointed, but still...had a good time...

what? Dragon and lion dancing was invented before the British colonized the US.