CNY from Shanghai

Happy year of the rabbit!

CNY in Shanghai has been slightly less ridiculous compared to the total mayhem we experienced in Beijing last year, but we heard it may be due to authorities cracking down with more "regulations" after the Jingan fire last Nov.

Nevertheless...still total over-the-top crazy-ness by any firework standard we ever knew growing up. This video is the view from our new apartment. Shortly after this video, someone started setting off firecrackers on the street to our left and they were literally shooting up right next to our balcony...at one point a loose amber flew right past...if our balcony hadn't been enclosed it may very well have flown IN.

oh chinar, such fun you are.

SH apartment fire...live

monday afternoon, suddenly saw the entire planning team on the other side of the office rushing to the windows to look outside...just a few blocks away, an entire building up in flames. totally scary and sad to see happen live. was too stunned to take my own pictures, but this is pretty much the exact view from the street outside the office.

thanks for those who called or emailed to check in, we're physically fine, just sobered. death toll now at 58. one of those perspective-giving days.

...and we're live

www.gap.cn
we "soft launched" yesterday in the middle of the nite...feels like giving birth

on your mark, get set...

GO! actually it's been kind of hard to stop lately, with the official site launch (and first store openings) in just a few days now (eeee!). but there's a light at the end of the proverbial tunnel...and it's growing SHINIER. more very soon...especially with special visitors on their way.

oh, and in case you ever need to get yourself from japan to china.
Google's directions
check out #43
oh Google.
(stolen from our friend karen...)

taken care of in the little things too.

been more homesick lately...maybe it's hitting the one year mark without a chance to go home for a recharge...maybe it's the nonstop pace of life right now. then there's the little things -- D gets Costco emails and gets kinda sad. Weekend Sherpa emails make me yearn for a hike in fresh air and mountains, not to mention the everpresent longing for crisp grapes and froyo.

after a particularly stressful week, with much homesickness lurking, i couldn't believe what opened across the street from our place! not as delicious as the pinkberries and yogurt harmonies of the world, but totally not complaining. SO not a coincidence, you know what i mean?

hot or not?

it has been HOT here...like the i-can't-breathe, everybody-on-my-commute-is-sweaty-ick kind of hot (okay, i cheat and take taxi when i can't take handle)...yet the official weather reports have been constantly 39 point something C (roughly 100+ F, not counting the humidity) when it most definitely feels hotter. weird right. we've since learned the good old chinarese g-o-v doesn't like to report official temperatures higher than 39.999999999 C. we wouldn't want anyone to panic that it's too hot, now would we.

A rare clear evening in SH.

Um, I know, no excuse could possibly make up for the delinquency of 3 months without a post. But pics will!! kekeke.

The last 3 months have been a blur, with back-to-back visitors (14 in total! 5 who stayed with us), a midnite trip to the emergency room for D (all better now), and a move to SH in early July. On top of work and class, it's been a blast but also kind of cra-zeeeeee.

We introduced you to our place in BJ and the "view" (of the snow mostly!)...here's the view from where we are staying in SH on a rare clear semi-unpolluted evening (D took the photo). BJ and SH are so different...both sprawling metros, but one very traditional, square and masculine, one more modern and feminine. Will leave you to figure out which is which.


We've been on the go so much that it's hard to know how to describe the latest transition...we miss friends in BJ heaps, and everyone at home. This transition has been harder than the one we made a year ago from the U.S. to BJ. But we're starting to meet friends here, and both of us having coworkers helps.

It's funny what makes us homesick...when I find D in a contemplative mood, 9 times out of 10 it's because he got a Costco email. hehe. I think we both get a little homesick after good skype convos with you all at home, especially when we talk to the wee wittle ones. Me, I miss clean air and water and mountains for hiking. Oh, and crisp green grapes. Eat some for me.

More soon.
Love! c&d