10th February, 2001
Dalian, China: Chinese Spring Festival Temple Fair At Exhibition Center. Making Grass Models Of Grasshoppers And Dragonflies. Colorful Balloons Sold On Pavement Stall
February, 1999
The Dalian Temple Fair held in bright sunlight near the Exhibition Center, was very colorful, very crowded and very noisy. It was an almost ideal situation for the Chinese People to enjoy the celebrations of the Spring Festival, at the start of the "Year Of The Rabbit". The stalls on the wide pavement opposite the Exhibition Center were selling a wide variety of goods, including Chinese swords, children's toys and clothes, but most important of all, "FOOD !" in the form of various snacks, savoury buns, bowls of noodles, tasty titbits and kebabs, of which Zhang had four liberally coated with hot chilli sauce. No festival or market would be complete without these snack stalls, which are always a big attraction.
 The Temple Fair held outside our hotel in Beijing, on the first day of the New Year, was similarly well serviced with food stalls selling snacks from other provinces, but they had not enjoyed the Dalian sunshine. As in Beijing, a man sitting on a low stool was cleverly weaving insect models out of bamboo leaves. By his nimble fingers the leaves, sometimes split into thread like thickness, were woven into almost lifelike grasshoppers, dragonflies and stick insects.
The grasshoppers were very popular with the children, but not as popular as the colorful balloons on sticks, which probably would not have survived as long as the grasshoppers. All the activities of the Temple Fair were being held on the pavements, but on the square in front of the entrance to the Exhibition Center, more entertainment was in progress. When we got there, a large group of Beijing housewives, all dressed in red and holding yellow cloths, were giving a demonstration with parade ground precision, of their tai chi exercises. From what I could see of them I should imagine that quite a few would have been grandmas, but they were very supple and performed with an elegant style.
If you are interested in further Dalian topics, such as...
Dalian City Square Dominated By Glass Globe...
Dalian Beach Sparkles In Sunlight...
Models Of Tigers On Rocky Headland...
Cable Car Station On Bank Of Tiger Beach...
Dalian Taxis Collide On Coastal Road...
Temple Fair In Beijing...
...then just click them !
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