Chinese Lantern Festival – Beidaihe Style

This year was the second year that I’ve had to privilege to attend the Chinese Lantern Festival in a park near the imitation Russia section of Beidaihe (a neighboring and more popular suburb/beach town outside of QHD). This year I went to the park with my teammate Ben, since we were the only two who had made it back to campus after the long winter holiday. I really appreciate the history and culture that comes out in the park as families take their kids to walk around, observing the many different types and styles of lanterns while the elderly men start an impromptu band just outside the park, even in the cold weather. Since this year is the year of the monkey according to the Chinese calendar, the park also used the theme of monkeys in a series of displays throughout the park.