Temple Fair

Temple fairs are a big part of Chinese New Year. Unfortunately, Ava was sick and didn't attend and so neither did I. ISB has a big celebration--all the Chinese classes danced and there were parades and food and games and demonstrations. Everyone wears their Chinese clothes, so it's very festive, very similar to fairs at actual temples. We were really disappointed to miss it. Noah barely made it through (he was sick all week but felt OK in the morning so we sent him) so I don't know much fun he had, but we did catch his dance on tape. He's so ornery so often about participating in things, but he did a nice job here!

You'll have to excuse "Flat Cheyenne" in the corner there. We're doing the "Flat Stanley" project for a friend's niece--I guess somewhere they diversified!

I love red, and all the celebrations here use a LOT of red. It looks so festive, especially against the gray winter. At night there are red lanterns everywhere and the glow is so pretty! Chinese do love to celebrate and love to celebrate in groups, the more, the merrier. Whenever we go out, we always see people playing games, chatting, exercising, but always in groups. I imagine I would look very strange if I went into a restaurant by myself! People would wonder what was wrong with me.

It's hard to see, but this man is blowing spun sugar into delicate animal forms. They're a beautiful gold color, often decorated with some kind of red "ink." Unfortunately, the fact that someone is blowing their breath into them to create them renders them pretty much inedible. Too bad, because we snipped off a very small bit and it tastes heavenly, like burnt sugar.

Next weekend is the Lantern Festival. Chinese New Year can extend for 40 days, although the bulk of the festivities are done in a week. We still go to bed listening to fireworks, though, which are still for sale, so clearly the fun's not done!