The Mid-Autumn Festival (also known as the "Moon Festival, or the "Lantern Festival") began the week we had all of our guests here at the same time. It was such a fun time to have visitors. The streets were lit up with beautiful lanterns, and the delicious smell of authentic Chinese food filled the air. Beautiful music, dragon parades, fireworks, and Chinese dancing all added to the festivity of this important holiday celebrated by Chinese families around the world. Even our condo. is decorated for the occasion! The girls each have silk lanterns hanging in their bedrooms and I am tempted to buy one for our entry way, although I'm not sure it would match any of my decor when we come home. :) The girls and I made home-made moon cakes together, and on opening night of the festival we watched in awe as hundreds of colorful lanterns floated up into the air lighting up the dark sky. It was amazing. I am so thankful that Mia got to see first hand how Mid-Autumn Festival is celebrated on this side of the world.
Look at that grin! She is mesmerized by the REAL flame that is inside her lantern. I still can't believe I let the girls walk around with them...
So many beautiful lanterns displayed around town.
Just the beginnng of a three-week-long celebration in Chinatown.
We had never seen a real dragon parade before and were so impressed by the people underneath the dragons. Every step was choreographed to get the dragon to "dance" the way they wanted it to. They would jump, turn, roll and even climb on top of each other during the parade! It was so cool.
Maggie's pretty purple lantern.
Getting ready to walk through the Chinese Garden.
"There is a real fire in my lantern!"
Maggie in her pretty Chinese dress that she picked out for the Festival.
More lanterns...
One of the beautiful dancers we watched perform.
Look at all of those floating lanterns! This was my favorite part of the night!
