Spring Festival - Part 3

The last few days of the first week of Spring festival were less chaotic yet still enjoyable. One Spring festival tradition that takes place outside the home is the maiohui, or temple festival. In Beijing, the most famous miaohui takes place at the Lama Temple and the neighboring Ditan Gongyuan, Temple of Earth. For those who practice Buddhism or for those accustomed to giving an annual prayer (not much different that my yearly church visit on Christmas eve), the Lama Temple has always been a popular destination. Thousands of Chinese (after purchasing a ticket, sometimes from scalpers) come her to partake in the ritual of lighting sticks on fire to pay homage to Buddha to ensure good fortune coming into the new year. With hundreds of people playing with fire and hot wax, I am surprised I haven't seen anybody go up in flames yet.

Across the street, the park holds a fair that includes performances, carnival style games, street food unique to the holiday, and of course hundreds of vendors selling Chinese trinkets (mostly crap). I was amazed to see the massive crowds cater to such a commercialized and seemingly uneventful event at a venue that transcends deep Chinese culture. If you ignore the culture completely, fine, but at least scale up the entertainment value at bit. It was like going to a carnival and discovering that there are no rides, just people who take your money in exchange for cotton candy or three beanbags that you can use to knock down a pyramid of soda bottles. And the stuffed animal prizes were far from cute, so forget about showing off in front of your girlfriend. On the up side, it was nice to see the crowds again after a week of walking around a ghost city.

Another activity of the week worth talking about was our visit to Dashanzi 798, a contemporary art district located in the northeast corner of Beijing. This expansive area had served as a large factory of sorts during the industrial movement implemented during Mao's reign. As large skyscrapers and residential neighborhoods began to blanket its surroundings, the art community decided to purchase the land and its old industrial facilities once used to manufacture electronics. Beginning in 2002, artists and cultural organizations began to divide, rent out, and re-make the factory spaces, gradually developing them into galleries, art centers, artists' studios, design companies, restaurants, and bars. It became a "Soho-esque" area of international character, replete with "loft living," attracting attention from all around. Bringing together contemporary art, architecture, and culture with a historically interesting location and an urban lifestyle, 798 has become an important addition to Beijing as well as the world as China's contemporary art develops and continues to attract investors from all over the world.

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I am officially done with the series "Spring Festival". From now on, I hope to scale down the length of each entry and hope to add more links and current events to this blog. Even though I think my mom and girlfriend are the only ones that read this, I also invite others to comment on stuff. I''ll see if I can juice things up a bit and refrain from too much storytelling.