The Lantern Festival

We are in China at the best time possible. We were able to see the Chinese New Year and be a part of all the traditional things they do. Then we were able to see The Lantern Festival. They had this incredible parade/celebration signifying the last day of the Chinese New Year. This parade was right outside our school on the main road. We heard a bunch of ruckus and decided to go check it out.

We walked out to the street a little late so there weren't any good places to stand where we could see the parade. So we started out standing on these weird stump things that they have all over the sidewalk. We had so many people stop and try and talk to us. Of course we were in a million random pictures. This is just one of those awkward pictures with people I don't even know.

We finally got smart half way through the parade and just charged up through the people and sat on the curb. Front row seats oh ya. We got way more attention there than was needed. As soon as the reporters and newspaper photagraphers saw us they immediately turned around and started taking pictures of us instead of the parade. I get a kick out of these people. Hello China!

This is a dance I just did not understand. These people would dance around to the beat of this huge drum, fill their mouths with alcohol, then spit it into the air or at each other at the same time... I personally would not want to be completely soaked in alcohol, let alone have someone spit it on me. I'm sure there is some reason behind it but we didn't know what it was.

Here are some cool pictures of the dragon/lion dance. This is probably my favorite thing to see. They are so good at making these dragons look real. The dance is a bit creepy but cool at the same time.