This week has been the chinese new year 'spring festival'.
Everyone has had the week off of work, and EVERYONE goes home to see their families. For many chinese, especially all the construction workers and shop workers, that means leaving the city to return to the countryside where they come from.
A big part of the chinese new year (other than the dancing dragons, which you hopefully got to see in Manchester) is fireworks. All the families go out into the street and launch lots of BIG fireworks.
The fireworks last 4-days and when night comes they get especially loud and often. My apartment in Shanghai is only on the 5th-floor, so I didn't get a very good view of the fireworks, but I got to hear all the noise and see all the coloured lights reflecting on all the surrounding buildings. It was amazing and like nothing I have ever seen or heard before. And it went on, and on, and on, and on....
Love
Jason
