Fair time

Today I was taken to one of the fairs that was being held in Beijing. These fairs are held at selected parks in the city and are large urban areas where sacrifices would have once been given.
Travelling their by taxi, it was a short distance from where I work, between the second and third ring. known as 'Ditan Park'.

The first thing that met my eyes was the throngs of people going in and out in an orderly fashion.
Each individual had a beaming smile on their face and was laden with an assortment of material fishes on rods, multi windmills blowing on long wooden sticks, stuffed animals of all shapes and sizes and an assortment of headgear that reminded me of a carnival in Europe or the Jewish holiday in Israel called 'Purim'. The younger members wore hairbands with neon lights of stars, hearts or devil ears - mickey mouse, elephant and the year of the rat fur hats were also the mode.

Amazingly, no one was pushing, shoving or shouting, there was a quiet atmosphere of laughter and merriment. One pays a small fee to enter, around 12.50nis or just under 2 pounds or $3.
The first pathway is lined with stalls selling all kinds of treasures, from gifts to wigs to ornaments.

The first being likened to an avenue, has smaller and wider paths, that I shall liken to streets going off of it, where the fair ground stalls are erected. Here one has to buy tokens at a minimum cost, to be able to play on the activities. Discs needed are on average 5, that comes to just under a pound, just over a dollar and 5nis. There is shooting, basketball, throw the hoop (always impossible to cover the post), hit the balls in the bucket and others..... There is more than adequate chance of winning delightful large stuffed toys, as well as compensation small ones.

Being escorted by a friends daughter and boyfriend ( the latter who did not speak any english), we had a 'ball'. It was the greatest fun and we walked around laden with our winnings. Food stalls are set in a seperate area, both for buying home made cheese, or tasting some of the local delicacies. Cotton Candy, honeyed fruit, kebabs, some sticky chewy substance (cant tell you what it was, but I did not deem to try!) were just a small amount of what was being offered.

We were lucky enough to even see a 'lion dance' often mistaken for a dragon dance that really
made it a complete festival. As the afternoon was drawing to a close, our feet weary and tired, we made our way home. I can only recommend such a happening. Even though the city itself is quiet, it is a perfect time to visit. The traffic is light, the festivities strong in color and spirit.

Again here, no drunkeness, pushing or shoving, no vandalism or fear of theft or stabbing, a simple people enjoying holiday festivities at an affordable price. It was truly a delightful afternoon, but as always, no babies in sight and for once I could understand these people, with a city of 16,000,000 it was not a place for little children, for certainly at least a large portion of them were here enjoying!