Bam! 11-year-olds lighting ginormous fireworks w/ a lit cig. CNY was lovelier than any holiday in the States. Ate cabbage & pork dumplings til we exploded. Those 4th of July fireworks the local parks set off? Huge ones that take up the whole sky; sold here for $9 ?we bought batch & lit simultaneously, bringing back the dormant pyro in me. JiuJiang was nuts.  Everyone, I mean everyone was off worktores & streets were packed. 4.5 million people did not sleep for 7 days straight thanks to non-stop firecrackers. That is what I call a real holiday.

JJ, in northern Jiangxi provincelso produces well-known teas. And thus, I recently switched from Starbucks to green tea. Not that Lipton crap, but the best leaves youl find this side of the Yangtze. Crackalicious & good for you. A winning combo indeed.

Shanghai lurrrrve...
I don miss Hong Kong. Well, a bit. It the people & certain moments or places. Shanghai is fabulous beyond words. Raw, diverse, & a never-ending well of discovery. I love it here more; a genuine connection with locals. Beijing, tooow, that a great city. Recently started blogging for work. Check it.