Lantern Festival

From left: TianTian (Lindsay), LiuEr, YuanYuan, HongWei, FuXing, Marissa, and of course right in front, the Moon Princess herself, Chang E (Kristen)

Well, if a picture is worth a thousand words, I guess I can just stop right here. I apologize for the glare from the streetlight, but I hope it's made up for by the fireworks, the full moon in the upper right side and those seven happy faces.

The lantern festival is the final big day of the two-week new year celebration. The weather was gorgeous - sunny and low 60s - so 12 of use went to the big park in the city to enjoy the day. There were carnival-type rides and games, an aquarium, a small zoo and a monkey mountain where the kids could go and feed the monkeys. Probably not something you will find in the US, but it's all part of the experience.

The kids had a wonderful time, especially since they were allowed to bring their new year money and buy treats from the pushcarts and vendors. Kristen picked out a vanilla and strawberry ice cream that was delicious. Lindsay had a *hot dog* which she said did not taste like a hot dog, but it tasted good anyway. Marissa tried some puffed corn doodles, which she said tasted like nothing. I tried an ear of fresh corn (well, maybe fresh) which you find everywhere here. It tasted pretty much like shoe leather, so my desire to try that particular local item has now been satisfied.

Another part of the day's adventure was taking the public bus - and now I know how to get to the grocery store, KFC and the park on the #20 bus - good information to have.


By the time we got home (and climbed 93 stairs) we were all pretty tired. But the day wasn't over...the climax of the spring festival is... FIREWORKS! (And, of course, the ubiquitous firecrackers which exhibited an earsplitting resurgence.) So at 7:30 I gamely rounded up the 7 oldest kids and the 8 of us walked the 1/2 mile or so to where the fireworks are set off (we are really lucky to be in such a great location, the traffic was horrendous, even by China standards). It was kind of cool to be part of the masses of people all heading together to the fireworks display. What a great surprise to see people firing up red lanterns (i.e. mini-hot air balloons) and launching them into the sky! The night sky was filled with small dots of flame high in the air.

Of course I turned many, many heads, other people stared or pointed. One man even stopped us and asked the kids if I was their teacher. To which I replied "Bu shi, wo shi tamen de mama".

So, tomorrow life gets back to normal with all the kids back in school. And we have some really amazing memories of Chinese New Year in China to keep forever.