Snow

As Ivring Berlin wrote:

Snow

It won't be long before we'll all be there with snow

Snow

I want to wash my hands, my face and hair with snow

With this being our first winter in Shanghai, we really didn't know what to expect. From what I had heard, temperatures below freezing are rare and snow is even rarer. Before Christmas, we were having temperatures up in the 50's but we've been hanging right above freezing for the last couple of weeks. We've also had quite a bit of rain and an occasional sighting of snow.

We woke Saturday to more rain, which turned into a mix of rain and snow by noon. Temperatures were still warm enough that it wasn't sticking to anything but rooftops. So even though the weather was crappy, we decided we wanted some good American food so we headed over to Puxi for a late lunch at Tony Roma's.

Along the way, we saw a new traffic camera being installed. Almost all traffic law enforcement here is done with cameras. You never see anyone pulled over for speeding. Instead, they catch you on camera and write you a ticket. I don't know if it's true but someone told me that they don't even bother mailing the ticket to you. It's a driver's responsibility to periodically check with the police to see if he has any outstanding tickets. Most of cameras are fixed at high traffic areas, such as the highway to the airport, so a lot drivers know where they are. So to keep people on their toes, the police periodically move some cameras around.

Weekend traffic is always bad here (for that matter, weekday traffic is too) but it's getting even worse now leading up to Chinese New Year. Pretty much everywhere you go right now, you end up sitting in bumper-to-bumper traffic. For example, Kristi went to the Bund Thursday, which is only about five miles from our apartment. A trip that usually takes 30 minutes took more than an hour. Saturday was no different.

One thing they have here that's kind of neat is these signs over the highway that alert drivers to road conditions ahead (see the green sign in the picture). Unlike in the States, where the signs are just in text, here they have a graphic of the road and upcoming exits. If a particular ramp starts backing up, its color will change from green to yellow - or red if it gets real bad. Notice how that even though we're creeping in stop-and-go traffic, the sign indicates mostly green, with one yellow ramp. I guess like everything else, traffic congestion is all relevant.

So anyway, to bring this wandering post full circle, when we got up this morning we actually had snow on the ground. If you listen closely, you can almost hear Bing Crosby and Danny Kaye.

I'll soon be there with snow

I'll wash my hair with snow

And with a spade of snow

I'll build a man that's made of snow

I'd love to stay up with you

but I recommend a little shuteye

Go to sleep

And dream

Of snow