The Chinese New Year celebrations go on all week with fairs, performances and events at temples and parks all over the city. We visited several.
Dongyue Temple is a beautiful old site built around multiple courtyards. People ate, played fun-fair style games and sat around in the sun watching acrobatic performances - including a very talented lady spinning a large vase/urn with a man inside with her feet.
Ditan Park, right in the centre of town, was built in the 16th century for the emperors to worship the earth. The trees and walkways were decorated with lanterns and it looked wonderful. It was packed – thousands of people streaming into the park to enjoy the day. Performances on stage, lots of food stalls (anything you can image, grilled on a stick) and hundreds of fair-ground amusement rides & stalls. It seems that when it comes to fun-fairs, the Chinese are just like the Brits – they can’t resist those stalls where you spend a fortune to win one of those big fluffy animals … I won a lucky pig by throwing metal washers at a bell – hit 7 out of 10!
We also visited Chayong Park, a large park on the east side of town, which has a permanent amusement park in place. Not as quaint as the others but just as busy. Also, with more Chinese ‘out-of-towners’, we assume, since we were stared at a lot more and had our pictures taken to show the folks back home how wild and crazy it is in the city.
Dongyue Temple is a beautiful old site built around multiple courtyards. People ate, played fun-fair style games and sat around in the sun watching acrobatic performances - including a very talented lady spinning a large vase/urn with a man inside with her feet.
Ditan Park, right in the centre of town, was built in the 16th century for the emperors to worship the earth. The trees and walkways were decorated with lanterns and it looked wonderful. It was packed – thousands of people streaming into the park to enjoy the day. Performances on stage, lots of food stalls (anything you can image, grilled on a stick) and hundreds of fair-ground amusement rides & stalls. It seems that when it comes to fun-fairs, the Chinese are just like the Brits – they can’t resist those stalls where you spend a fortune to win one of those big fluffy animals … I won a lucky pig by throwing metal washers at a bell – hit 7 out of 10!
We also visited Chayong Park, a large park on the east side of town, which has a permanent amusement park in place. Not as quaint as the others but just as busy. Also, with more Chinese ‘out-of-towners’, we assume, since we were stared at a lot more and had our pictures taken to show the folks back home how wild and crazy it is in the city.
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