Travel Reference
In-Depth Information
Spring Festival
The Spring Festival, usually falling in late January or the first half of February, is
marked by two weeks of festivities celebrating the beginning of a new year in the
lunar calendar (and is thus also called Chinese New Year). In Chinese astrology,
each year is associated with a particular animal from a cycle of twelve - 2008 is the
Year of the Rat, for example - and the passing into a new astrological phase is a
momentous occasion. There's a tangible sense of excitement in the run-up to the
festival, when Shanghai is perhaps at its most colourful, with shops and houses
decorated with good-luck messages and stalls and shops selling paper money,
drums and costumes. However, it's not an ideal time to travel - everything shuts
down, and most of the population is on the move, making travel impossible or
extremely uncomfortable.
The first day of the festival is marked by a family feast at which jiaozi (dumplings)
are eaten, sometimes with coins hidden inside. To bring luck, people dress in red
clothes (red being regarded as a lucky colour) - a particularly important custom if
the animal of their birth year is coming round again - and each family tries to eat a
whole fish, since the word for fish is a homonymn for surplus. Firecrackers are let off
to scare ghosts away and again on the fifth day, to honour Cai Shen, god of wealth.
Another ghost-scaring tradition you'll notice is the pasting up of images of door
gods at the threshold.
The most public expression of the festivities - a must for visitors - is at the Longhua
Temple (see p.98), held on the first few days of the festival. There are food and craft
stalls and plenty of folk entertainments such as stilt walkers and jugglers. The highlight
is on the evening of the first day, when the Longhua bell is struck.
April
Qingming Festival
(April 4 & 5). “Tomb Sweeping
Day” is the time to visit the graves of ancestors,
leave offerings of food, and burn ghost money -
fake paper currency - in honour of the departed.
Mid-Autumn Festival. It's a time of family reunion,
celebrated with fireworks and lanterns; in Shanghai
there is an evening parade along Huaihai Lu. Moon
cakes, containing a rich filling of sweet paste, are
eaten: all the fancier restaurants will have them on
the menu.
Double Ninth Festival
Nine is a number
associated with yang, or male energy, and on the
ninth day of the ninth lunar month qualities such as
assertiveness and strength are celebrated. It's
believed to be a good time for the distillation (and
consumption) of spirits.
National Day
(Oct 1). On which everyone has a
week off to celebrate the founding of the People's
Republic, and state TV is even more dire than usual,
packed with programmes celebrating the
achievements of the Communist Party. During the
“golden week” expect massive crowds everywhere
- it's not a convenient time to travel.
May
Labour Day
(May 1). Labour Day marks the start of
a week-long national holiday, during which all
tourist sights are extremely busy.
Youth Day
(May 4). Commemorating the student
demonstration in Tian'anmen Square in 1919,
which gave rise to the nationalist, anti-Imperialist
May Fourth Movement. Go to the First National
Congress of the CCP and you'll see hordes of
youths being indoctrinated.
June
Children's Day
(June 1). Most school pupils are
taken on excursions at this time, so if you're visiting
a popular tourist site, be prepared for mobs of kids
in yellow baseball caps.
November
The Shanghai International Arts Fair
sees a
month of cultural programming at the city's arts
venues, but it's at its best when the Art Biennale is
in town (2008 and 2010; see p.129 and
W
www
.artsbird.com).
September/October
Moon Festival
Marked on the fifteenth day of the
eighth lunar month, this is also known as the
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