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Exit the Dragon Lion
Today was the Chinese New Year celebration in Washington, D.C.'s Chinatown. We headed down to check it out. I, of course, had ulterior motives - maybe I could get some good pictures to use in future quilts.
We got a late start. The paper said the parade/celebration would be from 2 until 5. We got to Chinatown at about 2:30. Parking was scarce, naturally, and there was traffic. As we slowly drove, I started taking pictures of architectural details out the window.
I think this was on a Masonic Building on H Street.
Wouldn't this make a cool thermofax screen?
I also like her with increased contrast and saturation. Note the reflection in the window (the blue part).
OK, if you're looking for art content, we're just about done at this point.
We finally parked in a lot that had strips of this embedded between the rows.
(End of art content.)We didn't try to understand it. The glass didn't appear to be sticking too well, but it was a cool idea.
On to Chinatown!
As we approached the gate, we couldn't help but notice that many people were headed our way - away from the parade route. The parade was already over! We hung out to see about the fireworks that were supposed to go off in a little while. Some lion dancers were going in and out of nearby restaurants. Here are my fantastic (snort) photos.
Look!! The side of a lion dancer!And here's one behind a pole!
So much for my fabulous pictures of the parade/celebration.We continued to wait for the fireworks. What I can't show you is the noise - the beating drums, the snaps that everyone seemed to be throwing:
Fast forward to after the fireworks (which were really lots and lots and lots of firecrackers) and the drum players and more lion dancers and a dragon. Very loud, very fun. After all that, when the crowd thinned, I was able to get at least one picture of a dragon.
Then we had a wonderful Chinese dinner. At one point, a lion dancer was just 3 feet from our table. Unfortunately, the camera was in the restroom with my husband.A truly fabulous day, even without the photos I expected to get.
Good night, lion dancers.
Good night, Chinatown.
2 comments:
Hi Diane,
Some yummy stuff in those photos. I see that you do dyeing - if you're interested in joining the Dyers Webring, visit my blog http://shirleygoodwin.blogspot.com/ and click on "Join" on the button. We're a small group, you don't have to be a professional dyer, just someone who enjoys making their own fabric this way.
Shirley in New Zealand
I've lived in D.C. all of my life and never made it to Chinatown's celebrations. Darn! Maybe I'll go next year! Thanks for the photos.
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