Chinese Lantern Festival - last posting

Finally.....here are the final pictures from the Chinese Lantern Festival that was displayed at the Missouri Botanical Garden in St. Louis, Missouri. today is the last day of the selling of the fabrics that were used to make these exhibits. unfortunately, i did not check on that in time and was not able to participate and see if i could score some cool silk Chinese fabrics. but, my understanding is that you had to remove the whole exhibit piece that you wanted....so that might have been a problem anyway.

This is Qilin

This exhibit was constructed of thousands of Chinese medicine bottles...filled with colored liquid.

Qilin is a mythical chimerical creature with hooves that is said to appear alongside the arrival of a sage.

A good omen that brings prosperity.

This is the Moonlit Pathway.

Crescent moons...

And stars symbolized a happy and celebratory occasion.

Here is Pandas Paradise...China's most protected animal...they eat bamboo shoots, leaves and tasty tips.

A long walkway showed the Zodiac lanterns. each animal depicted in detail on the face of the lantern with strings of traditional balloon-shaped lanterns dangling. each has its own distinctive advantage in strength or power, intellect and heart.

This depicted the Goddess Blessing Buddha.

An enlightening being who embodies the compassion of all Buddhas.

It has listened to the preaching of the Tathagata Buddha and has pledged to help all that are suffering and in pain.

This is the Blissful Wedding...traditioanlly arranged through a matchmaker.

The bride and groom wear the lucky color of red, a symbol of love, happiness and prosperity.

I loved the little dancers in the wedding party.

And finally, we have the Terra Cotta Warriors. these are figures dating from 210 BC..depicting the armies of Qin Shi Huang, the First Emperor of China.

The figures were discovered in 1974 by farmers near Xi'an, Shaanxi province, China, near the Mausoleum of the First Qin Emperor.

And that....ladies and gentlemen....concludes the tour of the Chinese Lantern Festival. i hope you enjoyed your visit and will come back again soon.

Later

Chinese Lantern Festival, Part 4

A continuation of my trip to the Chinese Lantern Festival at the Missori Botanical Garden in St. Louis, MO. if interested, you can go to www.missouribotanicalgarden.org and read more about this beautiful exhibit...only here for a few more weeks.

As we roamed the gardens we came across...The Chinese Pillars

And a Cherry Blossom Tree

And Colorful Flowers

There were 8 of these lining the path

This is the Heavenly Temple. the Heavenly Temple in Beijing was constructed in 1420. it is a grand shrine to the gods where emperors would pray for a fruitful harvest.

Closer pic of the heavenly temple

The Wishing Well. throw in your pennies....and other coins....to have your wish granted.

The Flying Apsaras...these are female spirits...beautiful, youthful women proficient in the arts...dancing and playing celestial music.

The Double 7th Festival 

Chinese Double 7th Festival is held on the 7th day of the 7th lunar month ... falling in mid-summer. at night when the Milky Way is visible, you can see a bright star at the far north and south ends. They represent Cowherd and Weaver Maid who fell in love and were torn apart ... only allowed to meet once a year on the seventh day of the seventh month.

Very cool cranes in this display.

The First Emperor's Quest for Immortality

Qin Shi Huang was the first emperor of a unified China from 246 to 210 B.C.  he influenced cultural and intellectual growth and built the Great Wall of China.

In middle age he was concerned about death and spent considerable time looking for an elixir that would allow him to live forever.

Hope you are still enjoying the Lantern Festival tour....we have one more day to go. i'll try to get it out here in the next day or so.

This exhibit was one of the coolest things i have seen in a long time and i really enjoyed it. if you can, i recommend seeing it in person. it will only be here a couple more weeks...so go sooner rather than ...

Later

Chinese Lantern Festival part 3

I hope you are enjoying the tour of the Chinese Lantern Festival. to learn more about this event and read the stories of the displays visit  www.missouribotanicalgarden.org and click on the Chinese Lantern Festival link. if you are in the St Louis area i highly recommend checking out this exhibit. it is only here for a few more weeks.

This is the 4 faced Buddha statue. although Buddha originated in India...the Chinese applied it to their culture, too. their ways are similar.

Check out those ear lobes. LOL

There is something about the little fat buddha that makes me chuckle.

This is the wishing tree. there were large gold 'coins' hung by red ribbons. the idea is to make a wish and toss the coin into the tree. i pity the groundsperson who has to clean up this tree when this exhibit is over.

This is the 9 Dragon Mural. it is one of China's most precise pieces of architectural work. there are 3 sets of these in China. each dragon is a different color, expression and emotion.

Kind of scary.

This depicts the Butterfly Lovers. it is the love story of Liang Shanbo and Zhu Yingtai....a Romeo and Juliet tale passed down in China for over 1000 years.

They wanted to marry and it was forbidden. they both died and came back as butterflies...to fly away together.

Remarkable scenery

Love this bird

As we were walking along....we came upon these sheep. too cute. there are displays like this throughout the gardens. there is a plaque that tells who donated it to the gardens. when we came by the sheep later, some tourists were taking pictures of their children on the sheep. LOL

I love showing you these pictures....it's like i am there all over again and enjoying it a second time. i have enough pictures probably for 2 more postings. so, there will be more...

Later

Chinese Lantern Festival - part II

This is a continuation of the tour of the Chinese Lantern Festival. you can visit http://www.missouribotanicalgarden.org/ and click on Lantern Festival and read all the stories about the pictures.

The dragon is a traditional symbol for the Chinese people....it symbolizes luck, nobility, bravery, strength and knowledge. 2012 is the year of the dragon.

This exhibit is called Dragon Embracing the Pillars

They actually colored the water blue...it appeared magical.

There were lotus blossoms in many of the ponds in the garden.

This exhibit is called Lotus Ponds. i loved this arbor...looks like the sun. i want this in my garden at home.

Some very tall...albeit strange...lotus flowers

And this incredible vase sitting in the middle.

The fish on the vase remind me of Deb Levy's art work on her quilts....she does fish sometimes. when you look at the pic you can see that this is sort of 3D...the design if actually set off of the vase....you can see the little pins holding it up.

Here's another huge lotus flower in a pond.

This was called Sail Boat and is really cool. it is made of thousands of recycled plastic bottles. the city of St. Louis saved them for the Chinese artists to use.

All these exhibits are so amazing. the craft ideas....the amazing workmanship....the hours of labor. just so we can visit and enjoy. i want to go see it all again.

Here is the front of the sail boat.

Hope you are enjoying my tour of the Chinese Lantern Festival. there is much more to come. stay tuned....

Later