Something strange happens when life gets good: my blogs get sparse. They get much more frequent when I’m bored or lonely. Sure, doing and seeing cool things helps, but given that this blog is three weeks delayed, I’ll stick with the theory that my creativity is inversely proportionate to my happiness. Generally.

I’ve been shuttling back and forth between Shanghai every weekend for about 6 weeks now. That means I was in Shanghai for the opening of the World Expo, which has been pomp and circumstanced out the Yangtze. Ever since my arrival in November 2008, 17 months before the Expo, there have been electronic countdowns and saccharine sky blue Haibaos littering Shanghai and the surrounding area. Even the blackboards in my classroom are painted with Expo propaganda.

The government has stepped up the ‘civility’ vigilance. People are discouraged from going out in their quilted pajama sets, which they do with astonishing frequency even in a city as cosmopolitan as Shanghai. Street crossing marms whistle fiercely if you try to j-walk or if you don’t stand on the curb while you wait for the light to change. New, larger, more comfortable taxis, with drivers who speak a bit of English, are skulking the streets. And where vehicles used to drive through toll booths, everyone is now stopped, identified, and searched (though the searching is either lax or random, I can’t tell which, since each trip I’ve made into Shanghai has resulted in a different degree of security).

Basically, the Expo is a big deal over here. Or at least, everyone’s pretending it is. It may just be me, but I don’t get the hype. I’d never heard of the Expo, and it wouldn’t exactly be out of character for the PRC to make things seem more important than they actually are. What? I totally didn’t just say that.

Either way, I’ve heard a lot of Chinese people say how proud the Expo makes them to be Chinese. I’m not saying they don’t feel proud to be Chinese or that they shouldn’t feel that way, but patriotic/nationalistic pride is really drilled into the general population, and the Expo is like a Face orgy.

Not that I’m cynical. In fact I’ll probably cough up kuai to go the Expo and see what all the fuss is about.

And of course, nothing important can be done in China without fireworks. And since the Expo is the post-Olympics climax of Face, China ignited enough of the gunpowder they invented to sever Shanghai from the mainland and crash it into Taiwan. Gotta keep an eye on them!

I thought the fireworks were supposed to start at 8, so we got a place on a bridge at the shore of the river around 7:30.

There were already plenty of people out.

8 came and went, and I was getting hungry. Then a random foreign photographer said the fireworks weren’t scheduled to start until 10:30.

Um, no. We made our way to a convenience store to procure snacks and were informed that the fireworks would actually start at 9:30.

We made it outside just in time to see the initial explosions.

If this were an American thing, I know there’d be people tailgating, barbequing, snacking, and littering the street with so many beer bottles that the roads would sparkle reflecting the sky.

Instead, people stood around patiently, just chilling and waiting.

Definitely not a party.

We didn’t have the best view. Aside from a television, I’m not sure where the best view would be. But there were enough fireworks for that not to matter. I even oohed and aahed.

The smoky red sky and chest-rattling pops made the city seem like a war zone being invaded, but since everyone was calm and happy, my imagination could only go so far.

By the time the show was over, the streets were flooded with pedestrians, and traffic had come to a complete stop. In fact, I didn’t see cars move for about an hour, and there were people crowding the sidewalks for at least two. But no riots, no parties, no dancing or grilling or drinking. No rowdiness at all. Incredible.

The Expo weekend was also the May 1 holiday, which is a government holiday, but Chinese people work even on holidays. I was called back to Huzhou early to judge and English competition. Those things are less fun than rubbing sand all over your brain, and the fact it was on a holiday seemed like an even greater injustice.

I mean come on—Expo weekend! We should all be celebrating China’s greatness with fireworks-induced tinnitus and breakfast in bed.

Holidays here aren’t for fun or rest—they’re for promoting society and taking part in activities. But this year we got about 30 minutes of fire-sky respite. And some nachos as consolation.