I did hear a lot of fireworks go off right before and after midnight and CCTV news was talking about the "spectacular display" in Shanghai on the Bund.  You are among many people who I've talked to that said there weren't any fireworks.  Is CCTV lying? Hahahahaha.  I'm shocked.

Well, a majority of people here don't consider it the new year here because it's not according to a lunar calendar that noone uses anymore, so maybe they just forgot.  Remember, the color red and fireworks on Chinese new year are to scare away a big monster called Nian who wants to eat you.  Perhaps without this threat, fireworks were deemed a waste of money.

If you get your hopes to high, the disappointment that leads afterwards might be even harder for you to get over. Was it near a building a very tall building? The last time somebody set fireworks close to a building they burnt the whole building and lost millions and had jail time...I'm sure they learned from other peoples' mistakes.