The good folks at Urbanatomy have done it again - this time with a course on noodle eating. You don't need much gear and no textbooks. All you need to do is be able to master a spoon in one hand and chopsticks in the other.

They've left out Southern Barbarian's Yunnan Street Noodles, which in my opinion are some of the best. But admittedly, I haven't tried all the mentions in Urbanatomy's article. Check out Use Your Noodle. You decide which noodles you like best.

Rubbing my eyes and blowing my nose this morning, I cursed the workers in our lane for the dust that must be getting into my house causing my discomfort. And then a smile spread upon my face. Warming weather? Check. Sunshine? Check. (2 straight days!) Shanghai Daily reporting on flower blooms as often as they're reporting on the 10 new pandas in the zoo? Check! Yes, spring has arrived!

I can't speak for the north quite yet - Beijing still has snow and I'm sure the ice hasn't melted from the towering domes and castles at the Harbin Ice Festival. But at least here in Shanghai and across the south of China, spring is poking its head out and saying hello. And welcome it is - with a good amount of tearing and sneezing.

China is pretty great to visit in spring. The temperatures are relatively mild and you can be outdoors and enjoy decent weather (with some layers) and less tourists than in the summer. Find out more about China in Spring.

Photo: A Shanghai bee appreciates spring in Jing An Park. © 2009 Sara Naumann, licensed to About.com.

Celebrate Saint Patrick's Day in China with some green tea. If you're in Shanghai, you can see what's happening this week during Irish Week and there will certainly be some revelry in the city's multiple Irish bars.

For the rest of you globe-trotters, our own Ireland Guide Bernd Biege has put together a blog carnival so you can see what's happening from Dublin to DC and a few places in between.

The Chinese have no history of celebrating St. Patrick's Day. Ask a regular man on the street and he probably wouldn't know what you were talking about. That said, this year, Shanghai is hosting its fourth annual St. Patrick's Day Parade as part of Irish Week, March 12-21, 2010.

Photo: St. Patrick's Day, Shanghai-style. © 2007 Sara Naumann, licensed to About.com, Inc.