Chun Jie Kuai Le!

Or Happy Spring Festival!  Or Happy Chinese New Year!  It doesn't matter how to you say it, it's a party. When I used to imagine Chinese New Year it was all colorful parades with cool dragons.  Perhaps in the south of China that is the case but when it -20C, no one feels much like a parade.  So, in Shenyang we have fireworks.  Ridiculous amounts of fireworks and firecrackers.  They are sold from trailers all over the city and apparently are fairly inexpensive.  It's therefore not at all like home where we jump in the car to drive to a good spot to watch a ten or fifteen minute show put on by the town.  The people setting these off are individual families who want to scare off the spirits with a lot of noise.  They are our neighbors so all we have to do is stand by a window (or run from one room to the next) to see them VERY close up as well as far away.

A week ago we got a taste of what was to come with xiao xin nian (Little New Year) but that was just a warm-up.  Last night was New Year's Eve and that's when the biggest show takes place.  The noise started long before dark with firecrackers and continued through the evening with fireworks every few minutes.  Around 10:30, the festivities really started to pick up and it was constant noise and beautiful lights for the next two hours.  Here are a couple videos during the busiest time.

Apparently we can expect more tonight but perhaps not quite as intense.  We will see!

Yesterday, for our New Year's Eve celebration, we decided to check out a new restaurant.  It was a bit of a drive but I think it was worth it.  The place was huge and from the outside looked more like a office building than a restaurant/hotel with it's glass exterior.  I had heard about it from a fellow soccer mom when I was complaining that I didn't have anywhere to take the kids where they can just run around.  Nicholas has become too big for the play places like Happy City or Happy Family that we made us of so frequently over the last two summers.  So why a restaurant if I want the kids to be able to run?  This is why:

Even without the great play structure this restaurant was really cool.  There was a lot of foliage and some of the tables were set down in "boats" with water around them.  The food was decent enough that I would go back again.  Here are a few pictures, although they seem to be a little blurry.  I may need to clean the lens on my iPhone.

These are the biggest clams I've ever seen!

The only unfortunate part of our day came on our way home when a lady driving much too fast in the snow ran into the side of our van.  She hit the tire and just above right beside where Nicholas was sitting.  He was fine, it wasn't a terribly hard hit.  Once our driver spoke with her for a few minutes they both got on their phones and were talking to people and yelling at each other a bit at the same time.  The lady, who had gotten back in her car, started to roll up her window when our driver tapped on it to get her to open it again.  When she did he handed her his phone, she gave him her phone, and they both started talking to whomever was on the other end of the line.  I don't know what that was all about but we had to sit in traffic until the police showed up to determine who was at fault.  It was pretty obvious so they said the cars could be moved then they sat in their vehicle while the two drivers waited at their window for paperwork.  It was all an experience that I hope never happens again.

Today we spent part of the day trying on our summer clothes and choosing what to take away to Thailand with us.  Only four more sleeps!  We are super excited and ready to pack up and get to the heat.  Tonight the low here is forecast to be -30C but in Phuket (pronounced Poo-ket, not how it looks:) is 27C.  Awesome!!