Fireworks and Lanterns!

Every Saturday on Orange Isle, they set off fireworks around 8:30.  Big, impressive, dwarf the Berkeley fireworks on 4th of july, fireworks!  For no particular reason, as far as I can tell.  A large group of WTers came into Changsha this weekend.  And we met up and ate Northern Food, which was a lot of effort and wasn't really worth it.  Totally my bad for how I ordered!  But it was good, just not quite as filling as we are used to, again, my bad for ordering smaller!  But then we heard the fireworks starting at about 8:15, by about 8:30 we paid and some of us left and caught the last 10 minutes of Fireworks from the West side of Changsha.  It was impressive and wonderful, the explosions of color over the lit city cannot be described.  We walked to the path by the river, there are two paths, an upper path that is paved and has a wall that people were sitting on, and a lower path that is dirt and you can walk all the way down to the river (湘河).

There were people packed in to watch the fireworks, as the fireworks ended people began streaming away, and it became feasible to walk again.  We discovered a path down to the river and found people were sending lanterns up into the air.  They were small kits, you unfold the plastic or paper lantern (wasn't sure which) then you light the fuel source underneath and let the lantern fill with hot air, you release it and watch it soar into the sky.  Once the lanterns caught the updraft from the river they would rise rapidly, soaring so high that they became tiny twinkles of light.  People were amused how many foreigners were taking pictures and watching this most basic of weekend activities.  It is treated like flying a kite, something you just do whenever.  But truly beautiful!

Then we boarded some buses and found our way to walking street and parking lot bar.  There were so many foreigners at parking lot bar.  Parking lot bar, is a parking lot that has a retaining wall, and a small stand that sells beer nearby.  When there is a small group of people it is easy to people watch and not get stared at.  When there is a large group of 外国人(waiguoren, foreigners) it is mainly a magnet for beggars.  Who were harassing us for money.  And we were very conspicuous as there must have been close to 30 of us hanging out, drinking beer and speaking in English.  We eventually moved into Folk Bar.  A bar that is tucked behind parking lot bar, and looks so much like an American bar.  A dive bar, but an American bar none the less.  It was smoky, and they were playing country music and other folksy songs.  They proudly displayed their Johnny Walker and other American liquors.  There was pool and Chinese people playing dice games.  A mellow enjoyable evening in the bar that culminated in Brittany, Loring, Thomas (hereafter referred to as P Squat) and I doing a late night Jiaozi run!  Delicious greasy Jiaozi are the perfect food after a trip to the bar!