New Year

Hello Everyone,

Since my last post the holiday season has come and gone. Although it wasn’t home I had a great time celebrating Christmas and New Year’s with my friends in Shanghai. This will be a quick post, but I wanted to update everyone on the last few weeks.
On Christmas Eve I decided to join a large group of foreign students for a Christmas Dinner. We headed downtown to a place called O’Malley’s. As you might have guessed it’s an Irish pub. For just under $40 USD we were able to choose an appetizer, main dish, and dessert for dinner. The dinner consisted of filet mignon or turkey with different vegetables and sauces. I ended up going with the filet mignon as our family normally has prime rib on Christmas Day. We drank wine and Guinness to wash down the delicious meal while we talked about traditions at come. A few of the students toasted the dinner with jokes and stories from the semester. I’m fortunate to have so many good friends in Shanghai. There was a lot to be thankful for this Christmas season. However, Chinese people don’t celebrate Christmas so the next day the majority of western student skipped class to celebrate the holiday. Some people went to Catholic services, while others spent time hanging out I included a few pictures from the dinner. Needless to say the Christmas season was very unique between being in China and celebrating in an Irish Bar.
Although it has been cold in Shanghai there has been no snow. The weather is windy and humid cold. On December 26th the students were handed a late Christmas gift. Throughout the day the city received a few inches of snow. None of it stuck to the sidewalks or streets, but it was pleasant to see snow comes to Shanghai every once and awhile. After talking to a few long term students they can’t remember the last time it snowed in Shanghai. I included one picture I took from my dorm room. This was a nice reminder of snow as friends and family has indicated a cold and snowy winter in the Rocky Mountains.



New Year’s Eve rolled around pretty quick this year. Some friends and I decided to ring in the New Year at Longhua Temple. It’s the largest temple in Shanghai, which attracts tourist with their ceremonial ringing of a 2 meter tall bell, which weighs 5 tons and is used each New Year’s to bring good luck and fortune to the upcoming year. When we first entered the complex fireworks were already being displayed throughout the court yard. What seemed like black cats, sparklers, and bottle rocks were all lighting up the night sky well before the strike of midnight. In the center of the courtyard stands a single pagoda. Just outside the pagoda was a large tree. The Chinese were writing on little pieces of papers wishes for the upcoming year and hanging them on the branches of the tree. I included a picture with me of the pagoda and tree outside the temple. After we watched a small Chinese celebration outside the temple we decided to pay the $20 USD to go inside the temple. There were thousands of Chinese packed in throughout the complex. There was a central stage located just within the entrance where they had a countdown ceremony and several performances by Buddhist monks. We continued to walk around the complex through rooms with hundreds of golden Buddha’s and statues to different gods. Behind the main stage was a large central area for burning incents in large fire pits. I included the picture of incents and where at the end of the ceremony they burned the wooden sticks. The ceremony was pretty impressive after the countdown ended there was an impressive fireworks display around the temple. I have plenty of pictures from the event. The last two pictures were taken during and after fireworks. Once the festivities were over we headed over to a local night club for free drinks and some relaxing. I really enjoyed spending New Years Eve in Shanghai. The next morning I turned 23 years old. Can’t believe how fast time is flying by. At the end of the day my friend surprised me with cake and drinks in my dorm room. I had no idea it made me really happy. I also got to talk to friends and family through Skype. I miss everyone, but so thankful for the people in my life. Thank you everyone for the birthday wishes. I have a few videos from the surprise birthday party, but no pictures.
School is over now. I survived a full semester at Shanghai University. As you may or may not know Ping Pong is one of China’s national sports. After finals I find myself playing lot with the international students to pass the time. Although I’m not very good I find myself downstairs at the tables a lot. The game is pretty awesome when you are playing with people who are much better than I am. I included one picture from inside the game room. Now that finals are over I thought I would share what my upcoming plans are. I have decided to return to the United States on February 4th in order to pursue a Master’s of Public Administration at the University of Colorado at Denver. I will be coming home to work on my application and hopefully find a job to pay for the upcoming semester’s tuition. I look forward to sharing my pictures and stories from Shanghai. However, before I return home my long time friend John Barksdale is coming to China later today. We will spend the entire month traveling around the country. Our plans are to visit Shanghai, Hong Kong, Seoul, Beijing, Harbin, and Xian. I do not know if we will have internet access, but I will have a large post of all the things we see in do during our trip. I’m extremely excited for him to be visiting before I return home.
I can’t wait to be home. I have had a wonderful experience in Shanghai. Thank you for everyone’s support. I know I wouldn’t be here without supportive family and friends. I can’t wait to share my travel stories with all of you!


Best Wishes,
Travis Beach