Lantern Festival

As Chinese New Year is fast approaching it was inevitable that there would be a lantern festival somewhere nearby. Having been to the Auckland lantern Festival we were expecting it to be a far superior experience in China itself.

The Lantern Festival was taking place at the Suzhou Amusement Land which has its own metro stop so it is very easy to get to. Not so easy to get to if you aren't sure of the station exit that you need to take. To go round the park for the festival only costs 60RMB, however if you buy your ticket online in advance it only costs 30RMB and luckily we have the most fabulous member of staff who is willing to help everyone and booked tickets for a group of us to go.

The park itself appears a little run down and could do with some maintenance. Having said that it is quite entertaining to walk round. There are 1920's style buildings containing gift shops and some food options, a German style street, a bizarre version of Big Ben, a section of the Colosseum, a Wild West area with bronze like statues, a massive waterfall and some rides. The whole park is set around water and it was actually quite pleasant in the evening as it was really quiet despite the festival. There were food stalls throughout the park selling a variety of different foods including really delicious toffee covered fruit on skewers.

The lanterns themselves were heavily spread out and so in some ways this detracted from the spectacle. The scale of the main lanterns were exceptionally large and the ones in the water were really impressive as the the reflection added to the overall image. The traditional themed lanterns were really beautiful and used great colour combinations. A lot of lanterns were based around the park mascot which is a lion of sorts and so many lanterns were really quite tacky. The other down side is that apparently they use the same lanterns every year and therefore it isn't worth going again. At least I've been now and so know that I won't be able to regret not going.

The beautiful photographs were taken by my highly talented husband. Thank you for letting me use them.