Yuanxiaojie, Lantern Festival, falls on the first full moon of the lunar month [22 September]. Families and children visit a park to hold lighted lanterns and view the lanterns on display, and answer lantern riddles written on the lanterns.
Many of the children held plastic lanterns in the shape of the car from Toy Story, or the little battery powered lady beetle, with flapping wings. The lanterns on display are elaborate and complex, weith rotating internal designs of tigers, and figures from Chinese history. The acrobatic troupe from Hebei province put on a classic acrobatic and flexibility display in the main park at Tin Hua, Victoria Park. Also the boys from the juggling school, showed off their improvision of switching hats as the Marx brothers did in their classic films.
These two shy festival goers had lanterns like an octopus. With their Dad they were quite boisterous and fun, then I asked to photograph them.
The round glutinous moon cakes, yuanxiao, are wonderfully sweet and filled with duck egg yolk. They are quite filling, haochi, delicious.
Followed by a brief meal of octopus, dried shrimp, garlic chives, cashews, and choy sum. With the obligatory Hanjing, the premium Beer of all China. Or so the label says. And who am I to argue.
This poem is titled, Parting at a wine shop in nanjing, by Li Bai.
A wind, bringing the willow-cotton, sweetens the shop,
And a girl from Wu, pouring wine, urges me to share
With my comrades of the city who are here to see me off;
And as each of them drains his cup, I say to him in parting,
Oh, go and ask this river running to the east
If it can travel farther than a friend's love!
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