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| This was all done in flowers and was the welcome sign to the Temple Fair |
I really was not at all prepared for CNY! When the fire works started at midnight I was completely startled. We started out on Saturday, Feb. 10, by going to a real Temple Fair. I can only describe it as a mix between a traveling carnival and a boardwalk experience! Picture Wildwood, NJ with all Chinese food and traditional items for sale complete with a huge temple and park! There were so many people, so much food and anything you can imagine for sale (except for wine!) The food was probably the most overwhelming part. There was everything from soup to nuts! Literally - I tried what looked like a "doughboy" (fried dough with sugar). It was OK, but did not live up to my boardwalk days level! Most of the men were dressed in Chinese traditional clothes. I loved the dragon pot in this picture.
We were incredibly luck to be invited to join this dinner. On the way home, every street corner had people burning ghost money. Do you remember me telling about that at the Autumn Festival time? It is when you burn money for your ancestors that have died so that they can use the money in their after life. The fire works are all private and all over the city! Really - it is indescribable. Hours and hours of explosions. The dogs were not happy! Finally, around 2:00 a.m. there was a bit of quiet - enough so that you could sleep........We were up early the next morning to leave for our first holiday in Asia. Next post - Cambodia! Happy New Year to everyone - love you all -
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| Note the dragon hissing...... |
Stall after stall of different foods lined the pathways. It was pretty amazing. I had a ton of homework to do before we left for Cambodia so unfortunately we did not stay long at the Temple Fair.
The traditional food for CNY is dumplings. We were invited to a beautiful dinner preceded by making our own dumplings. I missed the dumpling making part, but Bill went and enjoyed it. I joined in time to eat! The older women at the dinner made the best dumplings. Since I did not participate I really can not comment on the preparations except to say I could pick out the dumplings made by westerners!
We were incredibly luck to be invited to join this dinner. On the way home, every street corner had people burning ghost money. Do you remember me telling about that at the Autumn Festival time? It is when you burn money for your ancestors that have died so that they can use the money in their after life. The fire works are all private and all over the city! Really - it is indescribable. Hours and hours of explosions. The dogs were not happy! Finally, around 2:00 a.m. there was a bit of quiet - enough so that you could sleep........We were up early the next morning to leave for our first holiday in Asia. Next post - Cambodia! Happy New Year to everyone - love you all -
Andi
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