Embracing Chinese Cheese

Clare, Ian and I went to Longqing Gorge about an hour and a half north of Beijing and just north of Badaling, one of the popular sections of the Great Wall. Longqing Gorge is a dam, but in winter it is transformed into an ice sculpture wonderland. It is artistic, wonderfully kitch and downright cheesy by turn, full of people enjoying themselves walking through each evening. I loved the artistic cloth and wire sculptures, lit up from inside - very ingenious - and some of the ice sculptures in the main hall. There was plenty of kitch - millions of twinkling lights, coloured fluorescent lights encased in ice, and lots of cartoon characters. Some of the more odd moments included coming across goldfish frozen into an ice goldfish bowl, seeing some fluorescent palm trees at the bottom of a frozen waterfall next to some cherry blossom trees, and best of all, a whole cave full of a plastic flower display that must have taken weeks to build and where, inexplicably, no photography was allowed.

Still, we ate our five-spice flavoured sausages, nibbled rows of toffee fruit, ate baked sweet potatoes, watched singing and drumming, and just enjoyed the whole spectacle.