There has been CNY celebration with great vigor.  Outside the night air is dense with gunpowder and smoke.  The noise was traditionally meant to scare away evil in Chinese villages.  Now it sounds like we are in the center of armed conflict.  Today it is drizzling, so perhaps that puts a damper, haha, on the fireworks.

In the old city this year.

My caricature artist hard at work on my picture.

We went down to the older part of Shanghai and had wonderful cotton candy for 2 quai – or about 30 cents.

I had my caricature done by a man in a stall.   He took my likeness by cutting my face out of red paper, his tongue working as hared and fast as his scissors.  It was my favourite CNY moment from this year.  I absolutely love things like that.

All the children have dragon balloons, of course.  My son has a birthday this month for the first time in 4 years, as he is a leapling.  Last time he had a real birthday we were living in Qatar and I soaped down the tiles beside our villa and ran the hose and he had a slippery party.  This year, though, he is 16 and all grown up and shall just host his friends for dinner.