The Lion Dance

This is a picture of Golden Lake, the residence where I currently am staying. It should be more like Green Waters. Sometimes the places are reflections of their names and sometimes they don't even come close. When in China, never judge a book by it's title.



Here is another angle of what I get to see all the time.



Golden Lake has many employees and for the Lunar New Year they organized a few events. One of these events was the "Lion Dance."




These are the lions as they moved around.





A picture of some of the staff, maybe some of the owners, some residents and two lions.





This is a table full of offerings for the Lion and to bring luck to the new year. The incense is lit and then placed in the vase or around it. During the Lion Dance the "lions" playfully, and shy make their way to the table to eat the food. Then the Lions sometimes grab things from the table and toss them out into the crowd. If you are a lucky recipient of an apple or candy, then I believe it is a lucky sign of things to come. After the dance, everyone approaches the table to eat duck, and pig and fruit. Not me. . .I just watched this time.




These were the boys who played the rhythm for the dance.




People would walk up to the table in groups of two or three to burn the incense and bow up and down, maybe saying things to bring good luck? I'm not sure what they were saying because I don't speak Chinese yet.






Here is the "Lion" and he dances around the table, blinking his eyes and being shy and cute. The Chinese culture really seems to value the shy, cute demeanor.

*** See next post for video of Lion Dance.






Later we learned how to make pork dumplings. These had pork, corn and some kind of onion that you can get here in China, but not in the U.S.




Here my friend, Jan is showing how to fold the dumpling. I love the dumplings. What I didn't really care for, was the dessert. They were kind of like dough balls stuffed with a sweet filling (maybe kidney beans mashed?) and then they were in a hot liquid-y syrup, which made them a little slippery. They weren't horrible, just not something I am longing to try again any time soon. When I see them again, I will take a picture and post it.



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