Chinese New Year Break 2013: Part 1 - Shanghai Sites

Chinese New Year means that our two school aged kids are out of school for nearly a month.  We have been so blessed for this time to be filled with visits to local sites and time with friends.  The pictures below capture some of the sites our family saw in Shanghai during this year's holiday.

Stop #1: The Xu Jia Hui District: Shanghai's Early History

The Xu Jia Hui district is in the south west corner of Shanghai's colonial city center and literally means the "Xu family gathering place".  This district traces its history back to Mr. Xu Guang Qi who was came to faith through his work with Matteo Ricci and established the first Catholic community in the 1600's.

The kids stand in front of statue of Xu Guang Qi in a museum commemorating his life. 

Note Asa is helping us pronounce "Xu" which sounds a lot like "shoe" in English.

As a result of Xu Guang Qi's influence a significant Catholic community that  is preserved at the Tu Shan Wan Museum which commemorates an orphanage that was started in the 1800's by Jesuit Catholics.  These Catholics taught local children handicraft skills and one of their most famous carvings is a Chinese Memorial Gate (a replicate of which is behind the boys) that was featured at several World's Fairs.  Here is a great blog post that provides more pictures and a detailed history.

Asa and Elijah stand in front of a copy of the Chinese Memorial Gate

Stop #2 The Local Chinese Folk Center

Miriam's school gave us a list local museums, including the Chang Ning District Chinese Folk Center, which features a traditional neighborhood as it appeared in the 1940's.  In addition we were delighted to discover that the center featured a New Year's carnival.

Asa and Miriam stage on a small the bridge on the 1940's street. 

Miriam watches the New Year's "Wheel of Fortune" to see what prize she will win. 

She won a bar of soap:)! 

Stop #3 Holiday Displays

This year we welcome the year of the snake and it was very interesting to see all of the Chinese New Year displays across town.

 

Asa and Miriam with a Sombrero Wearing Snake

One of the most minimalist and creative snake displays was done by Calvin Klein at our mall

 

At the same mall Coke's "Santa's Workshop" was magically turned into a "Chinese New Year House"

 

 

McDonalds even got into the New Year's action by featuring a horn of the mythical "Nian" (a monster whose name sounds the same as year) poking out of the place mat.  Here is a great summary video of the Nian Story.

 



On the fifth day of the new year Shanghai welcomes the god of wealth through lighting a ridiculous amount of fireworks.  We were amused to find these god of wealth blow up dolls at a restaurant in our mall.