There was a huge stage set up in the middle of China town and about 6 blocks of the street in the middle of China town were closed off for this festival. Restaurants were selling food outside of their establishments in portable containers so you could buy your fried rice and walk around to see the other vendors. People were advertising classes for yoga, meditation and Chinese and booths in the middle of the street were selling everything from tea cups to fortune cookie.
I had some delicious fried tofu, right out of the frying pan. I covered it in spicy Sriracha (the sauce looks darker here) and proceeded to enjoy. I couldn't have been happier about finally having something spicy to eat. Alli got a tasty melon flavored ice cream pop and later on some tasty noodles. I got a milk tea with bubbles (just like in the States, yum) and some fried rice, half of which I saved and can't wait to eat. There were also eggrolls, battered and fried chicken on a stick, and corn on the cob for sale. I realize now that we forgot to eat moon cakes during the moon festival. Oops.
The performances we saw were great. A woman sang beautifully in Spanish and Chinese and there was a fan dance as well as a dance performed with shiny silver balls. The most exciting dances were the lion and dragon dances. About seven men held up the giant dragon form and two each played the part of the lions. The dragons made their way throughout the streets and into restaurants during the entire festival but performed on stage as well. We were also treated to some tango performances by dancers of Asian descent with a live violinist, accordion player, keyboard player, and stand up bassist.
Best of all, the show was free.
The flier for the festival reads: In September, in the Chinese community we celebrate the Festival of the Moon. Legend tells of Chang E, the curious wife of Hou Yi, who was very proud and drank the elixir of immortality and from then on was exiled to the Crystal Palace of the Earth's only satellite...
I'm excited to visit Lima's Chinatown too, which is supposed to be pretty big.
Official site
No comments:
Post a Comment