Beijing ChaoYang International Spring Carnival 北京朝阳国际风情节

This evening after dark I went to the lantern area of the Spring Festival activities in Chaoyang Park. I couldn't possibly describe it as well as I'd like, so please join me in a visual tour of the highlight of the self-proclaimed "Youthful Enchanting New ChaoYang."

The entrance sets the tone for Olympics-based cultural pride with several pillars decked with cheerful slogans - pictured at left and right are "Enthusiastic, Civilized Host," and "Welcome the Olympics, Advance Civilization, Cultivate a New Trend."

Getting a bit more philosophical, "I Yield Courteously, I Am Happy."

And, finally, the slogan sure the be the instant favorite of foreigners in China and put the kabosh on "five-thousand years of civilization and they still can't form a line" wise cracks in airports, train stations, and expat pubs around the country ... drumroll please...

"I Line Up, I Am Civilized"

Beijingers expressed their support for all these ideas by signing on the Gain Honor for The Mother Country, Increase Color for the Olympics: A Written Proposal sign near the entrance.








For those of us who consider Spring Festival week a time to take a break from deep thought and contracts with society, however, there was certainly much more light-hearted entertainment - and Chinese junk food - to be had.


My first assignment: to determine whether the entrepreneurial Chinese would indeed use a stuffed deer to advertise his own fate in front of the Roast Deer Meat Kabob Stand.

Mission: Accomplished.

Answer: Yes. And some people even patted the deer on it's head before ordering one of it's cousins.

In the lantern area of the park, they had your standard dancing pig, while other floats left no doubt that that both religion and nature are alive and glowing in China. Displays like this stretched on and on across about 1/2 of the park, with music, carnival games, and stalls selling all sorts of cheap stuff - they were out of the large pig-shaped winter hats, unfortunately.

That's quite enough enthusiastically civilized celebration for one evening, I think, but if you would like to see more pictures from the carnival, you can click the photo album link below:

Chinese New Year