New Thing #77 - MoBot Lantern Festival

Fresh off our barge ride, and with Meredith still in town, we headed to the Missouri Botanical Garden for their Chinese Lantern Festival. Her husband Ben tagged along for this trek, but I think he would have rather gone on the barge ride instead. :)

I'll be honest. This wasn't my favorite new thing to do. Not because of the installations or the artwork or the music or the garden itself. I loved all of that. It was the people I hated. And the heat.

But, mostly the people.

And those people ruined what should have otherwise been a lovely evening.

When it comes to crowds, my fuse lasts about 15 minutes. Add on a sticky midwestern evening, that fuse shortens to about 15 seconds. It amazes me every day the amount of rude people, clueless people, and just downright inconsiderate people there are in the world. Did no one teach them to say excuse me when they walk in front of someone who is clearly trying to read a sign? Or not to stop in the middle of the effing sidewalk to take a photo when there are a dozen people walking directly behind them? Or to wait their turn to view something? Or to just be respectful of other people's time and space?

Let me take this moment to thank my parents and other family members for teaching me how to respect other people. It's too bad their lesson of not hurting people didn't sink in just a wee bit more, because I was seriously ready to cut a few people. Or at the very least, push them into the ponds.

I suppose I should get off my soap box, because I could spend an entire blog focusing on the amount of people that made it onto my shit list tonight. But, I don't really think you want to read about that, so I'll focus on the artwork and what they represent. I didn't get a chance to read all of the informational signs - due in large part to the aforementioned crowd - so, I will relay the information that came in the guide book. It really was all very beautiful, and most of the displays were mechanical. Too bad I didn't enjoy it as much as I should.

MoBot brought this Lantern Festival to the Garden amidst their annual Chinese Culture Days. It doesn't say in the guide, but I'm pretty sure I remember something saying that this is the first time something of this size has been brought to the U.S. So, it's pretty exciting that it's here in St. Louis.

We waited only about 15 minutes to get in, which considering how many people were there, wasn't that long. However, it was pretty toasty out, and I could feel the sweat beads start to run down my spine. After looking at the map, I realized that most of the sculptures were all near the front of the garden. They weren't spread out throughout the entire space as I had anticipated. Which made the clusterf*ck of people exponentially terrible.

Dragon Embracing the Pillars

You can't really see the four dragons in the corners squirting water into the center, but they're there. Dragons are believed to be the rulers of moving bodies of water and symbolize luck, nobility, bravery, strength and knowledge. I love the blue water.

Cute couple. (I won't add the photos Ben took of me. Let's just say he has a knack for taking photos when I look utterly ridiculous.)

Lotus Ponds

This flower symbolizes elegance, beauty, perfection, purity and grace.

The flower in the middle of the two porcelain dragons.

One of the two dragons.

Yes, these dragons are made entirely of porcelain dishes.

In China, 2012 is the Year of the Dragon, so there are a lot of dragons throughout the exhibit. China was actually the birthplace of porcelain making, which is why this installation is made of more than 40,000 individual pieces of porcelain tied together using ancient techniques. It's incredibly impressive up close, especially seeing how big these things are. Side note: in our guide, they have fun fact questions next to the explanation of each lantern. For this display, the question was "Do you know what the common English-language synonym for porcelain is?" Ben asked me this question and I immediately answered with "china". He looked at me like I was a freaking genius, and said "how the heck did you know that?" Clearly, he's a dude and has never heard his grandmother talk about her china set and how it it goes to him after she dies. But, I think I'll just stick to the fact that he's a guy and doesn't think about china sets or porcelain dishes. :)

These things were huge and so intricately assembled. Beautiful.

I love the reflection in the water.

So detailed!

It's difficult to see, but smoke has started coming out of the mouth.

You can hear the music in the background and see the mechanics of the head.

Four-Faced Buddha

There are many versions of the Buddha across China, from fat and happy to skinny and covered up. I just couldn't get over the freakishly long ear lobes these guys had.

The Flying Asparas

These are flying celestial beings surrounded by clouds, wearing flowing dresses, but have no wings or feathers. Some can be seen playing musical instruments, but the overall effect is one of grace and elegance.

Double Seventh Festival

This one is pretty difficult to paraphrase, so I'll just copy it as they said. "A young cowherd and a beautiful weavergirl got married without telling the girl's mother, the Goddess. When the Goddess found out, she ordered the girl to return to Heaven. The boy went to find her, so the Goddess created a wide river in the sky (the Milky Way) to separate them forever. But once a year, all the magpies in the world fly up into Heaven to form a bridge so they can be together for a single night: the seventh night of the seventh moon."

Interesting.

The First Emperor's Quest for Immortality

The First Emperor of China was pretty fancy schmancy. He created economic and political reforms, standardized currency, built an early version of the Great Wall, built the Terracotta Army and an enormous road system. However, as he got older, he basically began fearing his own shadow and set out to find a magic elixir to grant him immortality.

Goddess Blessing Buddha

The bodhisattva is an embodiment of compassion and able to relieve the suffering of all living beings. It is most often represented as a beautiful woman in flowing white robes, standing atop a dragon.

Moonlit Pathway

Moons and stars have dated back 2,000 years in Chinese coins. The implied meaning of the star symbol is that Chinese coins should be like the star-studded sky: widespread, numerous and broadly distributed. The moonlit pathway evokes a heavenly sky, but also wealth, power and abundance as you pass beneath the canopy of stars and moons.

I LOVE these little guys!!

Panda's Paradise

Pandas are synonymous with China and there is a protected natural habitat in the southwest Sichuan province.

Zodiac Lanterns

Did you know that the animals on the Zodiac are fabled to have held a race across a river for a place among the signs. Rat used his clever ways to be the first to get across (often at the expense of others), and is the first animal in the Zodiac. The other eleven followed in succession. All the animals have specific characteristics associated with them, and people are thought to assume the qualities of the animals into which year they are born.

Meredith and I were born in the Year of the Ram.

According to the one website I checked (and of course, everything on the internet is true), it says that the ram is thought to be the most feminine sign because it is a very creative sign. People tend to want to do something creative (hey, wait a sec....), are sensitive and caring beings and are adventurers. Sound familiar? Of course, rams are also lazy, require a lot of attention, and can be obstinate. Damn.

You win some, you lose some.

But, get this. The western equivalent to the ram is cancer (my zodiac sign), the color associated with rams is yellow (um, hello!), and I share the symbol with Mick Jagger, Jane Austen, Bruce Willis and John Wayne.

And Pamela Anderson. Again, you win some, you lose some.

Ben was born in the Year of the Snake.

Don't tell Ben that people born in the year of the snake are thought to be the wisest of all the zodiacs. It might go to his head. But, hey, they're also thought of to be grabby and sore losers. Wait, grabby?

We made our way back to the dragons as it got darker so we could see them all lit up.

Love the glowing eyeballs.

Smoking is bad for you, no matter what the Chinese say.

Wishing Well.

There are bells with different wishes - health, wealth, happiness and more. You're supposed to state your wish, throw a coin at the label to ring the bell and the wish will be granted. We did not try this. Mainly because there were about 85 people waiting to do it.

Giant Glowing Nipple....uh, I mean the Heavenly Temple

Does it not look like a nipple? Can't get it out of your head now, can you?

This temple represents the conjunction of the circular Heaven and the square Earth. There is a series of pillars that represent the four seasons, twelve months and twelve traditional Chinese hours.

At this point, we needed to get away from the crowds and take a walk to cool off. So, we headed back to the lake and the Japanese garden. Which is completely unlit at night and full of little blood suckers just waiting to feed on their next prey. The 20 or so bites on my feet the next day are a testament to that. But, at least it was peaceful and we could blot out all of the people that were threatening to make my temper snap. (Oh, and I wasn't the only one. Ben was about as cranky as I was with all of the people.)

Ducks on the pond. They were so cute. Too bad you can't really see them.

Cherry Blossom

In China, the cherry blossom is a significant symbol of feminine power, beauty and love. They smell pretty darn good too.

Colorful Flowers

These were really pretty.

Flowers are a very important part of Chinese culture. Some of the most important ones are orchids, chrysanthemums, water lilies, azaleas and camellias. China doesn't have an official flower, but the two unofficial ones are the plum blossom and the tree peony.

Butterfly Lovers

A tragic Chinese love story, similar to Romeo and Juliet. The two lovers die for their love and transform into a pair of butterflies.

Nine-Dragon Mural

The number nine is very special because it's the largest possible single digit number and nine was considered the number of the Emperor. Pair that with dragons, which have scales in multiples of nine, and have nine versions, it's a pretty powerful mural.

They move!

Wishing Tree

Pay $2 and you get to toss a coin with a ribbon on it into a tree. Make a wish and launch it into the highest branch possible. Something tells me they take all those down every night and resell them to people the next day. If legend is right and my wish would come true, it would only be for about 24 hours.

After the Wishing Tree, we saw some booths where traditional Chinese artists were selling some of their wares. Everything from charcoal portrait drawings to sugar drawings, seal engraving to opera face masks, costumes to embroidery. Some of it was beautiful. Nearly all of it was expensive.

We made it back to the dragons again. They're really pretty all lit up.

You can barely see the head through all the smoke.

Perty reflection.

Lotus Flower Lanterns

I love how some of these are on water. The reflections are beautiful.

The Chinese believe the lotus symbolizes ultimate purity and perfection because it rises untainted and beautiful from the mud. Also, every part of the plant, from the rootes to the petals, can be put to good use and has medicinal properties.

The Dragon Embracing the Pillars again.

The Terracotta Warrior

These warriors represent figures from the "Terracotta Army", a collection of sculptures depicting the armies of the first Emperor of China. These are located just ouside the garden.

Welcoming Dragon

Since we came to the garden from the side and when it was still light out, we didn't even notice this dragon until we were ready to leave. Unfortunately, the head is facing away from us, so we didn't get a good shot of it. One thing to note: dragon years of the Zodiac are the most popular to have babies. In China there are more babies born in Dragon years than any of the other 11 animal years. Interesting.

The Dragon Pillars Gate

This is in front of the entrance, and obviously more spectacular after the sun goes down. It represents a "huabiao". In China, a huabiao is usually erected in front of palaces and tombs as a symbol of the government's responsibility to the people. It's usually decorated with dragons, lotuses and other important symbols.

After a couple hours and numerous run-ins with the crowd, we were ready to go home. I realized later that there were 6 displays we didn't even get to see. I'm not really all that upset though. I don't think Meredith and Ben were either. But, at least they were troopers and braved the craziness with me!