Two weekends ago, we went to the Splendor of China Festival. As much as I would like to commend this effort of educating the public about the Chinese culture, I was a little disappointed because I felt like I was in Chinatown , well, without the dirty streets and the grocery shops (don't get me wrong, I don't hate Chinatown). Okay, there was quite a difference from Chinatown, but I didn't see anything surprising...hmm, actually I did see something surprising but I will talk about that later. I guess what I am trying to say is, the whole experience didn't WOW me...which is rather sad because, here I am, a Chinese girl walking into what is supposedly her world, but totally disinterested. Am I bored of my culture or was there really nothing to see? The culture of China, as I remember it, is grand! So much to tell and so much more to experience; yet, I didn't experience any at the festival. I was most disappointed at the food because there was a lack of authenticity. Again, don't get me wrong, I have nothing against Panda Express. In fact, I ate there the day before to get a $1 discount coupon for the festival. Oh, the orange chicken was yummy. Anyway, I just thought Panda Express and the other restaurants that were present do not represent authentic Chinese cuisine. I guess my head was wrapped around eating smelly tofu by a street stand or inhaling durian ice cream by the pier. The stuff for sale were not interesting. However, one of the shows was pretty amazing. A guy walked onto the platform dressed in a white batman costume, with a mask over his face. He stomped the floor and his mask changed color and sometimes the pattern too. At one point, he showed his face and then a mask covered it in a split second.
Despite all that, I did manage to take some interesting pictures, which somewhat summarize my experience and the goofy thoughts that persuaded me to write this post.
Ah! Here is the surprising thing that happened at the festival. Shown on the left is the same panda that I bought for HappyOblivion when we first met back in Davis, California (7 years ago). A company called Caltoy made this cutie and we can no longer find him or the others (including a hedgehog, pig, hippo, doggy, etc...). My friends bought me the Caltoy pig and I love him dearly - so soft and pink. We were so surprised to see another one of this panda because he is a rare find! From our research, these Caltoys have been discontinued a long time ago, shortly after we first bought them at KB Toys. The first time we saw this panda was in a Campbell Soup commercial. We recorded that commercial because how many discontinued toys that you own ever appear in a commercial? I am not referring to care bears or snoopy or garfield. I am talking about those that are not popular. Gosh, when we saw this panda used as a "decoration" in the miniature golf booth at the festival, we were devising ways to take this panda home with us. Who would leave this soft fluffy animal on the dirty floor, occasionally attacked by a golf ball because some kid can't aim (sorry, no offense to kids but I do love this panda). I hope he is home, safely tucked in a comfortable bed.
