Celebrating Chinese New Year 2/5/2023

Visiting The Huntington Library Is Always a Treat

Time To Celebrate!

The Huntington Library & Gardens had a one-day event to celebrate the Chinese New Year and we went with Bob and Donna. Great fun!!

Celebrating Chinese New Year At Huntington Gardens 2/5/2023

Celebrating Chinese New Year At Huntington Gardens 2/5/2023
Click for full sized image!

The Walk Begins And We Put On 6,000+ Steps Today!

Celebrating Chinese New Year At Huntington Gardens 2/5/2023

Celebrating Chinese New Year At Huntington Gardens 2/5/2023
The flowers were amazing. The word azalea comes from the Greek word meaning dry

Did You Know? - The azalea plant is a popular flowering shrub species in the rhododendron family. This spring-blooming flower lasts just a few weeks and there are thousands of cultivars of the species. The azalea is a very common plant in the United States. It is also a native plant throughout North America as well as Asia and Europe.

Celebrating Chinese New Year At Huntington Gardens 2/5/2023
Spring has apparently come a little early

Celebrating Chinese New Year At Huntington Gardens 2/5/2023
The recent rain has made everything beautiful!

We Headed To The Lion Dance First

Did You Know? - Lion dance is a form of traditional dance in Chinese culture and other Asian countries in which performers mimic a lion's movements in a lion costume to bring good luck and fortune. The lion dance is usually performed during the Chinese New Year and other Chinese traditional, cultural and religious festivals. It may also be performed at important occasions such as business opening events, special celebrations or wedding ceremonies, or may be used to honor special guests by the Chinese communities.

The Chinese lion dance is normally operated by two dancers, one of whom manipulates the head while the other forms the rear end of the lion. It is distinguishable from the dragon dance which is performed by many people who hold the long sinuous body of the dragon on poles. Chinese lion dance fundamental movements can be found in Chinese martial arts, and it is commonly performed to a vigorous drum beat.

Celebrating Chinese New Year At Huntington Gardens 2/5/2023
The crowd was assembled

Celebrating Chinese New Year At Huntington Gardens 2/5/2023
They dance for twenty minutes!

Celebrating Chinese New Year At Huntington Gardens 2/5/2023
Pleasing the crowd!

Celebrating Chinese New Year At Huntington Gardens 2/5/2023
The kids were having a field day!

We Headed For The Chinese Gardens

Celebrating Chinese New Year At Huntington Gardens 2/5/2023
The Chinese Gardens recreated in Lego's!

Celebrating Chinese New Year At Huntington Gardens 2/5/2023
Amazing details!

Celebrating Chinese New Year At Huntington Gardens 2/5/2023

Celebrating Chinese New Year At Huntington Gardens 2/5/2023
On the moon bridge!

Celebrating Chinese New Year At Huntington Gardens 2/5/2023
The ladies told Bob and Paul NOT to moon the lake!

Celebrating Chinese New Year At Huntington Gardens 2/5/2023
We walked over the moon bridge

Did You Know? - A moon bridge, also known as "sori-bashi", or as a drum bridge ("taiko-bashi" ???), is a highly arched pedestrian bridge. The moon bridge originated in China and was later introduced to Japan, where it became synonymous with Japanese landscape architecture. However, the general shape of this bridge can be seen throughout East Asian cultures.

Generally, these bridges are non-functional, serving as ornamentation.. However, they were originally designed to allow pedestrians to cross canals while allowing the passage of barges beneath. To achieve this height in normal bridge construction, significant space from the river banks must be used for the approaches of the bridge. The climbing ascent and descent of the moon bridge has the advantage of conserving this space. These approaches can be very steep on moon bridges, sometimes requiring ladder-like rungs to be affixed to the bridge.

Moon bridges can be constructed from a variety of materials and construction techniques. Some wooden moon bridges employ a "woven-arch" style: cross beams are threaded between the longitudinal members, developing inherent stiffness and shape. Though rare, this technique is displayed on the 12th century Chinese "Rainbow Bridge", the 1913 moon bridge in the Japanese garden of the Huntington Library in California.

Celebrating Chinese New Year At Huntington Gardens 2/5/2023
Mr. Duck as looking for Mrs. Duck!

Time To Dine

Jade Court Cafe Serving delicious pork and chive pot stickers, Dan Dan Noodles, spicy-sweet Ginger Creme Brazil, and more, the new Jade Court Cafe is already a Huntington favorite.   We had a "can" of wine and enjoyed talking with Bob and Donna.

Paul went for the beef, Bob & Mary did a noodle bowl, and Donna tried their salad.  Everything was quite good.

Celebrating Chinese New Year At Huntington Gardens 2/5/2023
No, we did NOT have rabbit!

Off To Mask Changing

Did You Know? - Bian Lian is an art in which the performer will wear brightly colored costumes & ornate opera-themed masks. These masks are the stars of the show, for a bian lian performer can switch between numerous masks in a fraction of a second.

Bonsai Is A Must

Celebrating Chinese New Year At Huntington Gardens 2/5/2023
Absolutely amazing!

Celebrating Chinese New Year At Huntington Gardens 2/5/2023
Trimming this elm tree takes a lot of time!

Celebrating Chinese New Year At Huntington Gardens 2/5/2023
We walked around the pavilion and saw many bonsai plants.

Celebrating Chinese New Year At Huntington Gardens 2/5/2023
The afternoon warmed up quite a bit!

Celebrating Chinese New Year At Huntington Gardens 2/5/2023
These plants are old!

Celebrating Chinese New Year At Huntington Gardens 2/5/2023
The four of us had a ball and we put on 6,500 steps in our tour!

Celebrating Chinese New Year At Huntington Gardens 2/5/2023
We laugh and giggle a lot

Celebrating Chinese New Year At Huntington Gardens 2/5/2023
The name was "Chocolate and Vanilla"... wonder why?

Celebrating Chinese New Year At Huntington Gardens 2/5/2023
4:00 PM and time to go home