The Lantern Festival

Yesterday was the traditional Chinese Lantern Festival. People return home to celebrate, eat “Yuan Shiao” (rice ball with fillings to symbolize togetherness and unity of family), and go to Lantern Expos.

We went to the one in the new industrial town of Suzhou. It was so much fun!

The town looks even prettier when it’s night:

At the gate of the Lantern Expo:

Traditional lanterns:

Festival designer lanterns:

There were a lot of traditional designs, but there also were a lot of modern elements added, which matches the overall feeling of the town — a beautiful blend of the modern and the traditional.

A New Part of Suzhou

We went to a new part of Suzhou — the Suzhou Industrial Town. It’s a neat little city close to the ancient city of Suzhou. Everything is so new, even the old Chinese style buildings are new. Cute and pretty.

A delight to see these green / flowering plants in winter:

Winter gives a different feel of beauty:

I like this cute little train below so much!

Stone carvings:

The modern and the traditional are so very nicely and seamlessly blended:

BFF (Best Friends Forever) — it is culturally appropriate and widely practiced here in China among women friends who are straight to hold hands, which is reflected by this sculpture below:

An interesting building that’s still in construction:

Building that looks like a ship: