10/31/06 Trick or Treat

On the Rio: Bob Marley & the Wailers ~ Waiting in Vain (dub)

Happy Halloween! This holiday is not really celebrated in China, except by us expats, but I did get to meet the Great Pumpkin.

Here's the inside of a family's private garden from when I was in Hongcun. The pumpkin squash are tied with red ribbons to keep them from breaking off the vines.

Here is a sign that was over a store. I couldn't tell what they were selling and our guide never offered an explanation, but seems to fit well with the ghoulish spirit of the holiday.

Tonight I was invited to the The Shanghai Grand Theater for a modern ballet festival with stars from the New York City Ballet. There were 5 of us, 3 American and 2 Chinese women; a real "girls night" out. It was not traditional ballet as I am used to, but modern ballet dance routines set to American music, such as Gerswin, John Phillips Sousa and Ray Charles. Quite creative.

Before the ballet we went to Kaltheen's 5, a stunning restaurant atop the Shanghai Art Museum. We drank champagne and had a mushroom-leek soup, smoked salmon with jelly fish, scallops, and spicy beef tatare.