The lights of Yuyuan Bazaar in the old part of Shanghai, on the eve of the Millennium.  I was in China to follow up on my previous summer’s consulting work for both Fudan University in Shanghai and Sohu.com in Beijing, during my winter break from MIT Sloan.  I spent Millennium Eve traveling Shanghai from Yuyuan Bazaar to Huaihai Road to Nanjing Road and finally to the roof of the Peace Hotel, to get a view of the fireworks across the Huangpu River - a very enjoyable evening.

It wouldn’t be Chinese New Year for another month or two, but Yuyuan Bazaar already had a number of dragons on display in preparation.  On this chilly night, dinner was a steamer full of the excellent steamed dumplings for which Yuyuan is famous.  Yuyuan was busier than ever, and streets were starting to be closed off in preparation for the festivities when I left.  It was then off to Huaihai road and ice cream at the Häagan Dazs shop for desert.

Musicians play traditional Chinese instruments on the roof of the Peace Hotel.  All over the world, hotel and party reservations had been sold out for more than a year in preparation for this night; so imagine my surprise and delight to discover I could spend the evening on the roof of Shanghai’s most famous hotel, a great spot overlooking the Bund and Pudong.  Over the previous year, an enclosed space had been built on the roof, and this evening it was used to entertain guests with music and food.  Much better than standing outside for hours in the crowds and the cold.

Another musician, playing the zheng.  Surprisingly few westerners were on the roof of the Peace Hotel this night; many were at expatriate gatherings around the Shanghai Center complex at places like the Hard Rock Cafe.

The Chinese population certainly knew the Bund was the place to be on this night.  Thousands upon thousands, shown here from the roof of the Peace Hotel, crowded the streets near the Bund to get a view of the fireworks at midnight.  China’s original intent was for a low-key Millennium celebration, since its traditional calendar has nothing to do with the western calendar.  But as they saw the preparations going on in the rest of the world, Millennium spirit caught on here as well.  Considering that China started late, they put on quite a celebration.

Midnight comes; the Millennium arrives, and a huge fireworks display is launched over the Huangpu River.  The Pudong area of Shanghai appears in the background; that’s the Jin Mao Building in the center, the third tallest building in the world.  After the celebration, I walked for two hours back to my hotel, as the streets were flooded with people and taxis were nowhere to be found.  Still, this was an excellent way to spend the Millennium; I’m glad I was in Shanghai.