I\u2019m writing this on Tuesday night.\u00a0 We finished unpacking, and ran a few errands.\u00a0 Judy got a haircut, and I went for a swim.\u00a0 We met up after we finished and taxied over to Sanlitun for a very late lunch (we at a very late breakfast).\u00a0 We had Mexican food at Cantina Agave.\u00a0 It wasn\u2019t Santa Fe or Clovis, but it was close enough for us both to agree that it was Mexican food.<\/p>\n
After we returned to the apartment, we sat down to do school work.\u00a0 A few fireworks began to go off in the neighborhood.\u00a0 As dark approached, the frequency of the fireworks increased. The standard approach to set them off is to walk out into the street, set it down, and light \u2018em up.\u00a0 There are sidewalks, but those don\u2019t seem as popular as the street.\u00a0 Traffic just keeps rolling by and star shells and mortars are being set off in the traffic lane.\u00a0 We\u2019re not talking little fireworks.\u00a0 These are big blasts, and they just keep coming.<\/span><\/p>\n When it got dark, the real fireworks began.\u00a0 We had heard it was crazy, and they weren\u2019t kidding.\u00a0 Everywhere we look (and from the 25<\/span>th<\/sup> floor we can see a long way) there are huge shells blasting off.\u00a0 One of the favorite activities is to lay down a long string of firecrackers (20 or more feet), and light it.\u00a0 It blows up for 2 or 3 minutes.\u00a0 It\u2019s been going on steadily for over three hours, and we\u2019re not sure when it will end.\u00a0 We\u2019ve seen a few police cars cruising the street, but they\u2019re just watching the fun.\u00a0<\/span><\/p>\n I\u2019m really interested as to how long this activity continues.\u00a0 Today is the 5<\/span>th<\/sup> day of the Lunar New Year, as declared by the Chinese government, and it\u2019s supposed to be some kind of special day.\u00a0 I think there are two more \u201cspecial\u201d days over the next week.\u00a0 This calls for a little research\u2026\u2026\u2026tomorrow.\u00a0 Right now, I\u2019m going to try to get to sleep.\u00a0 BISS starts classes up again tomorrow.\u00a0 Everyone\u2019s going to be a little bleary-eyed if this continues too much longer.<\/span><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":" I\u2019m writing this on Tuesday night.\u00a0 We finished unpacking, and ran a few errands.\u00a0 Judy got a haircut, and I went for a swim.\u00a0 We met up after we finished and taxied over to Sanlitun for a very late lunch … Continue reading