Lantern festival
Chinese new year finally came to a close with the lantern festival. I spent the whole day with Leo and his family again. First Leo and I went to the used car bazaar to take a look at some old cars. It basically consisted of people who had brought their own cars and sat around all day waiting for interested parties to come ask them about their vehicles. After a little while, it became clear that the used car bazaar was a bit silly. For instance, we found a 3 year old QQ. QQs are decent but cheap Chinese cars that are very common. A new QQ costs between 30,000 and 40,000 Yuan ($3,750 to $5,000). One would figure that a 3 year old model, whose 2 year warranty had expired, would cost maybe half of what a new one costs. Not quite! try 43,000 Yuan! that is 3,000 Yuan more than a new fully loaded model with warranty. I still don’t understand how that makes any sense at all. I guess if you factor in 5,000-6,000 in tax and license fees, and another 2,000 a year for insurance, you might wind up with a different figure, but nothing MORE than a new car. This is just another example of Chinese thinking that is directly opposite to our western thinking.
We then headed back to Leo’s shop to eat tang yuan (汤圆), the traditional dish that Chinese people eat for the lantern festival. After lunch, Ryan and I went to the bath house for a quick sweat and a massage. Afterwards, Leo called me and told me that his friend James was doing a photo shoot with a Chinese model and wanted to know if I wanted to come. I thought it would be a great opportunity to try out some of my new photo gear, specifically my Canon 5D and my Canon 70-200 f/2.8 L IS lens. When I got to the shop, James let me play with his Canon 1Ds mark II while he played with my 5d. We had fun. He was using the same lens as me to shoot. They gave me a wireless transmitter for the strobes and I was all set to go. There were two assistants positioning lights, metering, setting up wind machines, etc., one make up artist, one wardrobe lady, and the model. She was quite attractive and I got some great photos of her. It was a lot of fun, and James said that during summer he would have a lot more shoots as he mainly liked to shoot outdoors, and that he would call me every time so that we could go together. Score 
! I also learned how to say “Change clothing”, “look at me”, “do it again”, and “the flash didn’t fire.”
After the shoot, we went to Leo’s parent’s home for dinner and fireworks. I thought that the fireworks on new years eve were crazy. Well there were more on lantern festival. Maybe even twice as many. At Leo’s parent’s house, there was no place for the fireworks so we just walked into the middle of the busy street and lit them. Cars would come by as rockets exploded and bounced off their doors. Bottle rockets would fly into the buildings next door. I couldn’t believe it. It was like New Years but worse. Dinner was great. Way too much food as usual, but all quite tasty.
After dinner, we went to James’ house for more fireworks. James had two dogs, a little one and a huge K9 called tiger. Well, as soon as we started lighting the fireworks, tiger went CRAZY. He would run up to the fireworks, bark at them non stop, and then try to eat them. As he got close enough to take a bite, however, they would explode in his face and he would run away, only to return five seconds later. This went on for a while until he finally managed to get one in his mouth right before it exploded. I figured that was the end of it, but sure enough, a minute later he was back trying to eat some more. James started chaining him to the ground with a huge spike, but tiger kept ripping the spike out of the ground, tearing up a huge patch of earth each time. All too funny.
We had some tea and wine, and looked at James’ photos from that afternoon before calling it a night.
February 19th, 2006 at 8:43 am
What an experience! You are certainly getting a taste of Chinese culture. Literally and Figuratively.. Glad you had the oppoturnity to play with your camera equipment. I am sure you will have a plethora of pictures to treasure. Continue to enjoy your stay. We had our first real taste of winter. Had almost forgotten what it was like, since it had been so mild for so long. Still playing Pin Pong and fooling with the computer. Keep the reviews coming!.
February 19th, 2006 at 3:24 pm
Jerome…..thanks. I do have a ton of great pictures. I will try and get a DVD sent to Rachel soon so that you can see a few
February 20th, 2006 at 6:45 am
LOL that dog is hysterical. If all the meals you have in china have sooo much food, how are the chinese people so little??! Im sure it was very useful to learn how to tell the model to undress
February 20th, 2006 at 5:52 pm
AJ- Looks like you’re going to give Ross a run for his money!! How did the fireworks compare to the Vegas ones on New Year’s eve?? I’m sure it’s a lot more fun lighting the off yourself. Tell us a bit about how the Chinese food there compares to the food we are used to here. It sure sounds like you’re having a great time. Oh to be young and venturesome!!
February 20th, 2006 at 7:46 pm
Love your descriptions. You make everything come to life. Who exactly is Leo and what kind of shop does he have? Is he a photographer? And the dog–did a cracker explode in his mouth? And he lived to bark again? What an adventure you’re having. I’d love to see the pictures.
February 21st, 2006 at 2:19 am
Rachel……there are definitely a few fat people here!
Dad and Krista…..The fireworks were MUCH crazier than Vegas. Chinese new year makes Vegas look like a tiny little spark from a lighter that wont catch. It is not even comparable. The food is nothing like what we have in the states. They have many similar things, but it is all just different. Not even sure how I could convey the difference except by inviting you to come try it yourself.
Sara……Leo is a friend of my. He owns a window tinting distribution firm, a coffee shop, a car maintenance shop, and several other companies here. He isn’t a photographer, but his boss James is.
February 21st, 2006 at 5:24 am
Keep having fun and learning the Chinese! Like Rachel said, I am SURE you HAD to learn some of those phrases! Can’t wait to see the pictures! Do they dress wierd like we see on TV? It seems the Chinese usually have a wierd fashion. Just wondering what the model was modeling for. Take care and talk soon!
February 21st, 2006 at 8:45 pm
Summer…..Some of the people here dress VERY strangely, but for the most part, clothing here is simple and basic. It is directly the opposite of Japan where everyone cares about style and looking good. Here it seems as though no one cares at all (of course there are a few exceptions). The model was just there so that we could take pictures. The shoot wasn’t for an ad or anything.
March 3rd, 2006 at 3:00 pm
AJ – Estoy un poco atrazado con tus aventuras porque he estado demasiado ocupado con trabajo y visitas de mis hijos. Esto ultimo que dices de los ‘fireworks’ y el perro es increible. No me explico como no hay tanta gente herida y en hospitales de emergencia por la forma en que queman todo eso. Me gusto mucho la cosa de la fotografia y yo estaba preguntandome para que posaba la modelo pero me doy cuenta por tu comentario que solo era por diversion y nada mas – me gustaria ver las fotos de ella y todas las demas que has sacado. Como siempre, admiro tu forma de escribir tan clara y llena de humor y buena descripcion que da la sensacion de estar viendo todo ello.
Sigue contandonos tus aventuras, algun dia estaran en un ‘best seller’… EV
March 5th, 2006 at 3:43 pm
Viejo…..creo que hay tanta gente herida y en hospitales…..son locos! Gracias por las palabras