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Published: January 13th 2009
New Year Celebrations
Inside of the Grand Theatre ShanghaiThe University I teach at is winding down the semester for spring Festival that is starting early this year, on January 26.
So festivities are underway already which include end of year parties.
To start the ball rolling on Friday night we received tickets to a special concert held at the Grand theatre People’s Square Shanghai. This concert was put on by the municipality of Shanghai to honour all the foreign experts working and living in Shanghai and also to acknowledge the Shanghai Chinese students studying abroad at various universities around the world.
There were thirteen items on the program ranging from Symphony orchestra works to modern dance and song, acrobatics, national folk singing, Beijing Opera, so extremely diverse.
All of the artists were extremely polished and professional performers, the Shanghai Oriental symphony although young are of a high standard and the theatre itself is a wonderful example of creating a world class performing space. We were in the main theatre, the symphony orchestra has this wonderful arrangement where they are towards the back of the stage on a raised dais which glides on and off stage complete with all the artists sitting in position, so very
New Year Celebrations
quite a spectacular place, very new in People's Square handy for a concert such as ours which required them to be on stage for a certain time and then off and then back on.
After the theatre we took ourselves to a little local eatery opposite the Yifu theatre on Fuzhou Rd for tea and then a taxi ride home as the metro starts winding down from about 10-00 to 11-00pm.
Saturday we were up and off at 9-15am on the 993, the metro to West Nanjing Rd and a walk to the old campus of SSPU for a whole of campus banquet lunch for all teaching staff and admin.
The director of the college is a lovely lady who is very personable. The younger teachers call her “sister” as a term of respect and she knows each and every person. She leads in a very democratic style and seems to be very well liked by all. Every year all of the staff are taken on a holiday for a few days all expenses paid away from Shanghai, and as well they put on this dinner every year as well.
She feels it is important to create an atmosphere of harmony and togetherness in her staff,
and I agree it creates a whole atmosphere of trust and respect.
There is a tradition of "gang bei" which means cheers but really means dry up the cup. So you have to skull if someone wishes you gang bei and they can fill your glass up if it has nothing in it with the beverage of their choice.
So the trick is to keep your glass filled with a cm of whatever, so you don't end up plastered. There was much of it going on, everyone stands and wishes good health and gangbei. Quite a few pissed Chinese people by the end of the day.
Tables of 9-10 people were set up around the room with dishes continually being brought out to us.
The meal was very traditional and lavish. About 6 types of cold entrees to start with, of course the usual try a bit of this and that. Jelly fish and garlic, quite tasty, ham slices, pickled mushrooms, some other sort of veggie, chicken slices. Then the main courses kept coming one by one, whole chicken cooked in a curry sauce, whole fish in a sweet and sour sauce, knuckle end of a leg of
New Year Celebrations
three levels of seating and foyer space pork in gravy, little lamb pieces in a sauce, beef and sticky rice, whole crab. Then came two vegetable dishes, celery and some sort of beans and steamed spinach. Then the soup and then dessert, which was little meringue dumplings and pastry biscuits.
To show how rich you are or important the meal is, you must have lots of meat dishes first, vegetables and rice are not there to fill you up because they are eaten at all other times when there is very little meat eaten. So vegetables will come out last and if a person is hungry then you can get some rice.
Because it is all in central dishes you never feel like you are full because you take only little bits at a time, drink some tea, eat a little more, much healthier way to eat than the whole shove a whole pile on your plate and shove it all down western style.
The Chinese do love to celebrate and togetherness and enjoying each other’s company is important. This culture celebrates family and friends and being part of a group, they live in such close quarters with each others and work together also
New Year Celebrations
We had tea at a great little find on Fuzhou Rd, this is Sean looking respectable amongst many yet there is seldom issues caused by too many people being around them. I suppose in a country with a population of this size you have to learn this skill very early in your life
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