The weather is still pretty cold and the air pretty soupy; there is more snow on the hills behind campus now than when we left, and we've had several days of steady snow – enough to stay around for a while. So much for winter being over when we got back. But the Spring Festival decorations are still up along the river and we enjoyed a long walk to look at them on the weekend.We’ve had the reversal of the exodus pre Spring Festival – students...

The approach of Chinese New Year was obvious. Shops started stocking up on specialty goodies – bagged or boxed sets of everything from sweets and chocolates to coffee and tea to vacuum-sealed meats. All in festive red packaging. People headed home laden with bags and boxes to take to the family gatherings. Also lots of banners and scrolls for pasting over gates and doorways, red lanterns (fold out paper ones reminding me of the Christmas bells common when I...