As Chinese New Year quickly approaches, we know some of you may have forgotten to book that amazing trip to Thailand, or watched as flight prices soared. No need to worry – if you’re stuck in Shanghai for the break, we have you covered.
1. Get Drunk With Us
Get
cheeky for Chinese New Year by rampaging across Yongkang Lu with That’s
Shanghai on February 7. After running wild on the street last month with our hit
Christmas pub crawl, we’re back again and teaming up with El Luchador,
Blarney Stone, Sliders, Topolino, Zapfler, Café de Stagiaires, Lizzy’s
All Natural and Gilligans. RMB150 ticket gets you eight drinks – one for
each bar. Tickets available by contacting 8023 2199x2806 or
tickets@urbanatomy.com.) More info here.
Feb 7, midday, RMB150 (with eight drink tickets). Meet at Yongkang Lu, see event listing.
2. Enjoy a traditional Spring Festival Meal
There's no shortage of traditional holiday cuisine options and we've laid them all out in our mega-CNY Dining Guide, from mega luxrious meals at five-star hotels to an intimate gathering at master chef Jeremy Leung's new Bund restaurant From a Chinese Cookbook.
3. Don't worry, you won't starve
Had your fill of niangao and other traditional treats. Don't worry, a few places across the city are staying open and you might be calling these places home for the next week. Bull & Claw will be doing its famous brunch, along with an all you can drink deal every day of the break! Craft is serving classic and signature cocktails for RMB50 from February 9 – 12. D.O.C. Gastronomia Italiana will be doing chef's specials twice-a-day and will be open from 11am the entire holiday. Dogtown Bar is temporarily reopening from February 5-10, serving up different drink deals everyday during the break. El Patio is offering a CNY set menu featuring six classic Spanish dishes until February 6 and February 10-13. Light & Salt (pictured above) reopens on February 11 for CNY afternoon tea, lunch and dinner. Liquid Laundry reopens on February 12 in time for their hangover killing weekend brunch. Logan's Punch is also back in business that day as will Sproutworks (Changshu Lu and Hongqiao), although their Xintiandi and Super Brand Mall locations are open every day during the holiday. Meanwhile, if Yongkang Lu survives our rampage on Sunday, then punters can get their fix everyday at Sliders, Blarney Stone and El Luchador.
4. Cook at home with Table Life's CNY Survival Kit
Of course, if you're taking this holiday as an excuse to go into hibernation, then Table Life will ensure that you'll be able to survive without stepping aside. We opted for the RMB390 Carnivore Kit (pictured), but other options include a RMB437 Couch Potato Kit (24-pack of Stella Artois, two bags of Kettle Chips, a bag of Tostitos, a frozen pizza, one box of Act II microwave popcorn) and a RMB1,184 Wine Package that includes four bottles each of Tarima Monastrall Red from Spain and Rawson's Retreat Chardonay from Australia. Still in need for drinks, Bottles XO is also delivering all week.
5. Eat Your ABCs
China famously has enough dishes to fill an alphabet - for real, check out our illustrated alphabet to the country's most famous dishes and spend the holiday hunting them down. There's now a delicious reason to brush up on your Chinese.
6. Get Out of Town
Yes, this seems contrary to this whole list but there's still a few local travel organizations arranging Spring Festival getaways that you can join up with. Dragon Adventures are soaking in traditional life in Yuyao and doing a North Vietnam getaway. Wanna Travel is doing a 5-day detox retreat in Yangshuo, a 7-day tour of Tibet, a 6-day adventure tour of Chengdu and Xi'an, a 6-day skiing and hot springs trip to Xinjiang and a 3-day wild China trip to Gongyu, as well as a 1-day hot springs retreat on Feb 9 and Feb 10.
7. Staycation!!!
If you can't get out of town for vacation, bring the vacation to you. With so many world class hotels in the city, take the Spring Festival as a chance to get some pampering at some special holiday prices. Check out our full CNY Staycation Guide for details.
8. Explore Shanghai's History
With Lunar New Year around the corner, Historic Shanghai has organized this walking stroll to three beautiful, historic Chinese temples of the hidden track. Stops include hidden 19th century courtyards and Shanghai’s only Art Deco temple.
Feb 7, 2-5pm, RMB250 (RMB200 for Historic Shanghai members). Meeting point revealed after RSVP with info@historic-shanghai.com.
9. Visit Longhua Temple
The most prosperous way to kick off the Year of the Monkey is to ring the bell at Longhua Temple. Services are available from 9pm-2am on February 7 and from 5am-4.30pm on February 8. While there’s going to be a ton of people looking to do the honors, there’s still plenty to check out at the temple including what appears as the happiest Buddha statue ever.
Longhua Temple: 2853 Longhua Lu, by Longhua Park 龙华路2853, 近龙华烈士陵园
10. Ride to Shanghai Disney Resort with Factory 5
After seemingly months of delays, the news about Shanghai Disney Resort are flying fast and furious, with annoucnements of when it will open and how to get tickets. Get a sneak peek (or at least try) with the good folks at Factory 5 who are organizing a group ride on February 7 at 10am to the area. While getting inside might be unlikely, organizers say, "rumor has it that a few cyclists have been able to cruise the dedicated, currently vacant highways that are being built for the mega wonderland." See full details here.
11. Yuyuan Garden Lantern Festival
After taking last year off, the month-long Lantern Festival returns to Yu Gardens. Gates will be shut when it hits the 40,000 visitors mark. Starting on February 8, over 50 lantern installations will be lit in the garden between 5.30pm and 8pm every night until the end of the festival. An 8-meter-tall Monkey King is among this year’s massive highlights. Entrance to the gardens is free until February 25, except from Feb 20-22 where it will RMB50 for adults and RMB30 for kids on Feb 20-21 (RMB100 for adults and RMB50 for kids on Lantern Festival Day on February 22).
12. Watch a Chinese Blockbuster
After another record-breaking year at the box office, 2016 is already
looking liking yet another banner year for China’s film industry. While Star Wars dominated January, this month is devoted to Chinese
blockbusters angling to rule the all-important Spring Festival period. Check out our breakdown of box office contenders like The Monkey King 2 (pictured above), Stephen Chow's The Mermaid and The Man From Macau III in our most recent What's New in China column. (Speaking of Star Wars, make sure you catch it by February 7 as it leaves China's cinemas then.)
13. Happy Valley International Comedy Show
Shanghai’s most famous amusement park (at least until this summer, when you know who opens) are hosting an international comedy show featuring circus masters from around the world. Plus if you’re tired of the show, there’s plenty of rides to tickle your fancy.
Feb 8-13, RMB250. Happy Valley.
14. Shanghai Film Park Spring Festival
Carnival rides meets three-dimensional cinema as the Shanghai Film Park rings in the new year with a five day festival. There’s martial arts shows at 10.30am and 1.30pm each day with guests able to come in until 3.30pm at the latest.
Feb 8-13, 8.30am-4.30pm, RMB80 (RMB40 for kids). Shanghai Film Park, 4915 Beisong Gong Lu, by Yingcheng Lu 车墩镇北松公路4915号, 近影城路
15. Watch the Super Bowl Guilt-Free
America’s
biggest sports prize is on the line as the Carolina Panthers square off
against the Denver Broncos at the monumental Super Bowl 50. While it's early Monday morning start-time is usually a deterrent, who cares this year with it falling on the first day of Spring Festival. Enjoy
the full pageantry of the big game, which routinely pulls in well over
100 million viewers in America alone at NFL China official Super Bowl parties at the Kerry Hotel Pudong or 1515 West Bar, or at different locations across our fair city. For more, check out our breakdown of where to watch Super Bowl 50 in Shanghai.
16. Cheer on Shanghai SIPG to AFC Champions Supremacy
Shanghai SIPG takes part in the AFC Champions League for the very first time this year. Having come second in the Chinese Super League last season, if they are to make the group stage – and face Melbourne Victory, Gamba Osaka and Suwon Samsung Bluewings – they first must win a one-off qualification game at the Shanghai Stadium against either Muangthong United of Thailand or Johor Darul Ta'zim of Malaysia. They go into the February 9 game bolstered by the singing of Brazilian striker Elkeson from Guangzhou Evergrande, who scored in the final in both their Champions League victories of 2013 and 2015. Make sure to catch the SIPG when they kick off the China Super League season in March and find out how you can join our SIPG Supporters Club.
Feb 9, 7.30pm, RMB50-380. Shanghai Stadium, tickets. See event listing.
17. Flex Your Funny Bone
Kung Fu Komedy is organizing the first China International Comedy Festival from March 18-April 2 and they’re looking for some comics and filmmakers to get into the fun. An English language and Mandarin stand-up contest will take place during the festival which will be judged by Dashan, Joe Klocek and more. For details on how to apply, click here with entries open until February 10. Also, they’re organizing a comic short film contest, with 3-10 minute submissions welcome to submit by March 27. For more details, click here.
18. Get Your Boogie On
So while this is seemingly the one week of the year where Shanghai's clubs are taking a break, there's still some options to get your dance on or catch a live show. Most of the parties take place just before Spring Festival, but visiting acts like Hutong Yellow Weasels (pictured above) will rock Yuyintang on January 11 and god bless JZ Club who will be spending CNY turning the keys to some of their favorite artists all holiday long. See the full CNY Gig Guide and Party Planner here.
19. Survive The Haunted Cinema at MAO Livehouse
MAO Livehouse will be transformed into a huge haunted house bringing to life some of cinema’s scariest scenes. There is only one way out – you have to cross the entire building and escape the haunted cinema.
Feb 11-28, noon-3pm, 3-6pm, 6-8pm, 8-10pm, RMB78-100 (Mon-Thurs), RMB98-120 (Fri-Sun and holidays). MAO Livehouse, see event listing.
20. Visit Hogwarts
There are no holidays when it comes to wizarding and that includes the Harry Potter: The Exhibition exhibit currently taking over Super Brand Mall. Visitors will be able to explore some of the film’s most popular locations like Hagrid’s Hut and the Forbidden Forest. Guests can toss a Quaffle ball in the Quidditch area and pull their own Mandrake in the Herbology classroom. Exclusive audio tour with behind-the-scenes commentary from producers and prop designers complement the thousands of authentic props, costumes and creatures that fill the exhibit.
Until Feb 28, 10am-1pm; 2-5pm; 6-9pm, RMB170 (RMB110 for children, RMB130 for students, RMB400 for two parents and one child, RMB450 for three). Super Brand Mall, tickets.
21. Create Your Own Subway Adventure
If you haven't checked it out yet, our Shanghai bucket list has plenty of great tips to get the most from the city. With the extension of Lines 11, 12 and 13, there are now 366 metro stations in Shanghai. So choose from one of the lines, grab some road Tsingtaos and ride to somewhere new. Some suggestions - Thames Town/Qibao/Korea Town (Line 9), The Kuomintang's New Shanghai City (Line 8) and Dishui Lake (Line 16).
22. Sohu and chill
It was a year ago that online regulation forced China's streaming services to apply for approval for any foreign show, slowing down what was becoming a bounty of free TV. Still, there's plenty of TV shows available to stream for free. Sohu has exclusive rights to the second season of The Strain, plus has old seasons of Fargo, Mad Men and Empire to offer. Youku has Breaking Bad, Sherlock and Agent Carter. iQiyi has the final season of Community and PPTV has Battlestar Galactica. If you wanted to go the pay TV route, QQ Video has exclusive rights to HBO shows like Ballers and True Detective. And of course, if you're craving something newer, stock up at your neighborhood DVD store on top-quality Oscar screener leaks of The Hateful Eight, The Revenant, Spotlight and other Academy Awards contenders.
23. Delve into the Mainland music scene
Go on a deep dive into the Mainland's burgeoning music scene with our Top 50 Mainland Albums List of 2015 and discover a diverse scene that ranges from fusionists mining new sounds with traditional instruments to kids rocking guitars and Joy Division T's.
24. Read a book
Celebrate Chinese New Year and your inner bookworm, by curling up on the couch with a good read with a Mainland bent. During the holiday, we'll be posting a new book review everyday but you can get started by checking out out our past book reviews where we cover everything from translations of award-winning Chinese writers to a foreigner's love letter to Dongbei.
25. Plan for V-Day
Chinese New Year ends conveniently on Valentine's Day so you have plenty of time to get your plans in order. Need inspiration? Check out our mega-guide to V-Day brunches and dinners.
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