Mid-Autumn Festival at Lan Su Chinese Garden

This weekend is the Mid-Autumn Festival, second in popularity to the Chinese New Year. Lan Su Chinese Garden celebrates both in a big way. I made it to two performances and enjoyed a moon cake, traditional pastry of the festival.

I got there in time for the Lion Dance, but not in time to get a good viewing spot.

Too bad I didn’t remember how to do videos–the batting eyelashes and scratching behind the ear would have been fun to capture. That the lion was maneuvered by people did not have to be hidden, as you can see from the photo where the lions raise their heads. The lion definitely liked its reflection. That pose plus some stair climbing animal tricks were amazing when you think the performers’ hands were busy manipulating head and tail, so all other motions were made feet alone.

My ritual photo of the land boat.

This photo is from the stage. The land boat was prime viewing space, so as soon as the Lion Dance was over I headed that way. The performances were every hour on the hour with time to enjoy the garden in between  One activity for children was making red lanterns.

One didn’t make it home. I spent the 15 minutes between acts holding my spot for viewing the next performance and watching fish along with the floating lantern.

You may remember photos from a way back where a heron visited the garden. Seems they feast on the fish in the lake. I doubt they would eat this big guy though. The dancers performed three numbers.

I did not get the name of the first one (blue costumes); the second was Golden Peacock, and the last was Lotus Dreams. Again, video would have been great to capture the gliding motion among others.

The weather was perfect for enjoying the festival, and if the sky remains clear, I’ll enjoy the eclipse tonight.

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