Lantern Festival events to light up your days in Guangdong

This Saturday happens to be the Lantern Festival, the 15th day of the first month of the lunar calendar, marking the last day of Chinese New Year celebrations. During the Lantern Festival, people eat glutinous rice balls and carry lanterns and solve riddles. In Guangdong, various Lantern Festival events will be held this weekend. Have fun!

Guangzhou

2017 Yuexiu Temple Fair: A carnival of Cantonese cuisine and culture

The Lantern Festival is around the corner (Feb. 11), so is the 2017 Yuexiu Temple Fair which will be held in Guangzhou from Feb. 11 to 17. This year, the temple fair is featured by fine food and cultural performances, plus creative bazaar, morning tea gathering and street performances.

* Free cultural performances every day @ Zhongyou Square, Town God’s Temple (城隍庙忠佑广场)

* Gourmet festival @ Huifu East Road (惠福东路)

* Intangible cultural heritage exhibition @ Beijing Road (北京路)

* Creative bazaar from 9 am to 9 pm every day @ Beijing Road (北京路)

* Street performances every day @ Yuexiu Park (越秀公园), Gongyuanqian metro station (地铁公园前站), Grandbuy at Xihua Road (西湖路广百新翼广场)

* Morning tea gathering from 8:30 to 10:30 am every day @ tea houses around the Town God’s Temple

2017 Guangzhou Yuexiu Lantern Show

The show is featured by peony and phoenix. It is composed by 50 groups of colored lanterns, 30 groups of illuminations, 15 sets of mosaicultures, hundreds of thousands of pots of bright-colored flowers and plants, and millions of tiny multicolored lights. Get a glimpse of the lantern show through a group of photos.

Time: 6:00 am -10:00 pm, Jan. 24 to Feb. 27, 2017

Venue: Guangzhou Yuexiu Park

Ticket: Free entrance for the Park, RMB 30 per ticket for the show

Metro: Take Metro Line 2 and get off at Yuexiu Park.

Bus: Take one of the following buses to get there, No. 5, 7, 21, 24, 42, 58, 58A, 58A (Express), 87, 101, 103, 105, 108, 109, 110, 113, 124, 180, 182, 185, 186, 211, 244, etc.

2017 Guangzhou Garden Expo

The 2017 Guangzhou Garden Expo are being held in both Guangzhou Children’s Park and Liuhua Lake Park from Jan. 25 to Feb. 19, 2017.

In the Expo’s main venue Guangzhou Children’s Park, “fairy tale like” landscapes themed on The Wizard of Oz are being displayed, including mosaicultures, sea of flowers, art nursery gardens and all kinds of cartoon dolls.

While in Liuhua Lake Park, flower installations are set up themed on Lingnan culture, such as large-scale mosaicultures, flower bouquets, bonsais and rare stones, presenting a visual feast for tourists.

Flower Show at Baiyun Mountain and Yuntai Garden

With the theme of “Spring Flowers, Ravishing Tulips”, the flower show at Yuntai Garden will come into view during the lunar New Year. The show, using 3D design and gardening techniques to highlight tulips, geraniums, snapdragons, herb trinity, create a sea of flowers. At the Baiyun Mountain Peach Ravine, peach blossoms and cole flowers take over as the thematic show plants. Clusters of peach blossoms bloom in the trees, turning the ravine into a pink heaven.

Time: January 23 to March 5

Venue: Yuntai Garden, Baiyun Mountain Peach Ravine

Lighting Concert in Huacheng Square

Every half an hour, an amazing light show, centering around Canton Tower with the Pearl River and the new central axis as the backdrop, will be performed and accompanied by live music played in Flower City Square, creating a great visual feast for visitors.

Time: 7:00 p.m. - 10:30 p.m. from January 24 to February 11

Venue: Canton Tower, Flower City Square and along the banks of the Pearl River

Enjoy Lantern Festival Eve Buffer Dinner in Guangzhou

Come and celebrate the Lantern Festival at the best buffet restaurant in town. Enjoy the all-you-can-eat seafood, international delicacies, as well as the traditional Chinese specialties from our eight live cooking stations.

Shenzhen

Joyful Lantern Festival

Shenzhen Museum will hold its annual Joyful Lantern Festival. Locals can enjoy traditional folk demonstrations, such as lion dances, qilin dances, handicrafts and riddles. People who guess the right answers of the riddles can claim gifts from the organizers. Traditional Chinese operas and stunts, including face-changing from Sichuan opera, will be shown. Face-changing performers will wear colored masks and change masks almost instantaneously with the swipe of a fan, a movement of the head, or a wave of the hand. Glutinous rice balls and snacks will be offered at the event.

Time: 2-4:30 p.m., Feb. 11

Venue: Shenzhen Museum, Block A, Civic Center, Futian District (福田区市民中心A区深圳博物馆新馆)

Metro: Line 2 or 4, Civic Center Station (市民中心站), Exit B

Snack making

Locals are invited to make glutinous rice balls and handicrafts and solve riddles together at a Lantern Festival event Saturday. Traditional folk demonstrations, stunts and music will also be featured.

Time: 10:30 a.m.-5 p.m., Feb. 11

Venue: Futian Cultural Hall’s Intangible Cultural Heritage Hall, 103 Fuhua Road, Futian District (福田区福华路103号福田文化馆非遗主题馆)

Metro: Line 1, Huaqiang Station (华强站), Exit D

Riddle solving

Riddles will be presented for locals to solve at a Lantern Festival activity at Futian District Library and Shenzhen Library on Saturday. Those who guess the right answers can claim gifts from the libraries.

Time: 2 p.m., Feb. 11

Venue 1: 2/F, Futian District Library, 70 Jingtian Road, Futian District (福田区景田路70号福田区图书馆二楼)

Metro: Line 2, Jingtian Station (景田站), Exit C

Venue 2: 2/F, Shenzhen Library, 2001 Fuzhong Road 1, Futian District (福田区福中一路2001号深圳图书馆二楼)

Metro: Line 3 or 4, Children’s Palace Station (少年宫站), Exit D

Dragon dances

The dragon dance is a form of traditional performance in Chinese culture. Like the lion dance, it is most often seen in festive celebrations and is believed to bring good luck to people.

Time 1: 3 p.m., Feb. 10

Venue: Lixiang Park, intersection of Nanguang Road and Nantou Street, Nanshan District (南山区南光路与南头街交汇处荔香公园)

Metro: Line 1, Taoyuan Station (桃园站), Exit A

Time 2: 3 p.m., Feb. 11

Venue: Haide Square, Wenxin Road 5, Nanshan District (南山区文心五路海德广场)

Metro: Line 2, Houhai Station (后海站), Exit E

Light show

On Saturday night, traditional folk demonstrations, such as lion dances, riddle-solving and Chinese folk performances, will be held at the light show.

Dates: Until Feb. 22

Open: 5-10:30 p.m.

Tickets: 50-80 yuan

Venue: OCT Harbor, Baishi Road, Nanshan District (南山区白石路欢乐海岸)

Metro: Line 9, Shenzhen Bay Park Station (深圳湾公园站), Exit E(Cao Zhen)

A night of classics at Shenzhen Concert Hall on Feb. 14

Shenzhen Symphony Orchestra will collaborate with young conductor Zhang Jiemin to present a night of popular classical music to celebrate Valentine’s Day. Soprano Chen Li’an, accordionist Tan Jialiang and tenor Wei Jianjiang will also be featured.

Time: 8 p.m., Feb. 14

Tickets: 50-380 yuan

Booking: 400-185-8666

Venue: Shenzhen Concert Hall, intersection of Hongli Road and Yitian Road, Futian District (福田区红荔路和益田路交汇处深圳音乐厅)

Metro: Line 3 or 4, Children’s Palace Station (少年宫站), Exit D

Sea World Light Festival

Artistic light installations are lighting up around Minghua ship. The Fourth Sea World International Light Festival showcases lights designed by Dutch, Chinese, German and Canadian artists, such as Daniel Iregui, Xu Zhengyue, Tropisme, Antonin Fourneau and Stichting Barstow.

Dates: Until Feb. 15

Venue: Sea World, Shekou, Nanshan District (南山区蛇口海上世界)

Metro: Line 2, Sea World Station (海上世界站), Exit A

Absurdist comedies to amuse locals

Two Chinese absurdist comedies, “Mt. Wulong Duke” and “Goodbye Mr. Loser,” will amuse local audiences this spring.

“Mt. Wulong Duke”

Time: 8 p.m., Feb. 14

Tickets: 80-880 yuan

Venue: Huaxia Art Center, 1 Guangqiao Street, Overseas Chinese Town (南山区华侨城光侨街1号华夏艺术中心)

Metro: Line 1, OCT Station (华侨城站), Exit B

“Goodbye Mr. Loser”

Time: 8 p.m., March 18

Tickets: 180-880 yuan

Venue: Shenzhen Poly Theater, intersection of Wenxin Road 5 and Houhaibin Road, Nanshan District (南山区后海滨路与文心五路交界处深圳保利剧院)

Metro: Line 2, Houhai Station (后海站), Exit E

Zhuhai

Hearty celebrations beckon all to Doumen

The Doumen District Folk Art Parade is to step off in Jing’an Town at 9 am on Saturday, Feb 11, concurrent with the 2,000-year-old Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the Lunar New Year.

The Folk Art Parade has been an annual grand event in Doumen over the past 12 years. In the lineup are square matrices of local intangible cultural legacies supplemented by teams of out-of-town areas to promote folk art and traditional culture.

This year’s parade will set a record with more than 1,800 performers in 18 matrices with 24 themes. The Yunnan Nujiang River ethnic minority will debut in the march.

Tips

Lasting from 9 am to 11 am, the free show will start at Doumen Gymnasium Square and end at Jing’an Leisure Square.

Fun activities in Hengqin during Spring Festival

A Sousa chinensis exhibition especially designed for the Spring Festival will be held from Jan. 28 to Feb. 25 in the Zhuhai Chimelong Ocean Kingdom.

Foshan

Crossing Tongji Bridge on Lantern Festival in Foshan

Crossing Tongji Bridge" on the Lantern Festival, the 15th day of the first Chinese lunar month, is a big New Year event for many Foshan residents. A great number of people will participate in the important folk activity this Saturday.

Many people believe that only crossing Tongji Bridge for three years in a row can troubles go away. Though no reference is offered by researchers on folk customs, this legend has been spreading widely. People cross the bridge year by year to pray for good lucks, with a wish of eliminating troubles.

Taboos When Crossing Tongji Bridge

(1)One-way Route

People are expected to walk one-way route, from the head of bridge(north side) to the end of bridge (south side) without any return.

(2)Do Not Throw Lettuce

Lettuce(生菜) stands for making money in Chinese and it’s a necessity when crossing Tongji Bridge. Tourists can take lettuce back home after crossing the bridge, with meaning of taking money home.

(3)Do Not Throw Coins

Some people like to throw coins in the river under Tongji Bridge while some risk their lives to pick the coins in the river. These behaviors are vulgar and rude.

Zhongshan

Spring Flower Lantern Show visitors exceed one million in Zhongshan

The 2017 Spring Flower Lantern Show is extraordinarily popular and has received more than one million visits. The highlights are in four aspects—the mixture of the traditional culture and local customs, the innovative lantern design about the administrative effectiveness and people’s harmonious life, the infusion of “roster” elements and visitors’ universal improvement in public awareness. The Show will last until February 14.

Charity Parade begins on Lantern Festival

Zhongshan’s Charity Parade for 2017 will be held along Xingzhong Avenue on February 11, when some sections of the roads will be controlled to facilitate the Parade.

Xingzhong Avenue is blocked off from its Boai Road crossroad to Zhongshan Road crossroad (excluded) at 8:00 on February 11 till its end. No vehicle is allowed to pass along unless permitted. The tunnels under Fourth Boai Road and Fifth Boai Road are open to traffic. Boai Road is open for vehicles to move in the east-west directions, but no entry to Xingzhong Avenue unless permitted. Traffic signs and control facilities will be placed in other affected crossroads in relevant sections. Citizens are requested to alter their travel plans and avoid the controlled roads.

Dongguan

Where to go strawberry picking in Dongguan

Strawberry fans should know that the best time to pick strawberries in Dongguan is between November and January. Dongguanhas several places for strawberry picking.

Nancheng Shuilian Mt. Strawberry Garden (南城水濂山草莓园)

Add: JiaTianling Village Crossing, Lvse Road, Shuilian Mountain, Nancheng District (南城水濂山绿色路家田岭村路口,南城区红棉路水濂山农家山庄东行100米）

Tel: 18059430739

Longquan Celadon Kilns from Song Dynasty Exhibition