Last weekend we went to the Missouri Botanical Gardens to see their Chinese Lantern Festival celebrating the year of the dragon.

 We arrived while there was still daylight out so the lanterns were not yet turned on.  Here is the sign announcing the exhibit.  It's a lantern too!

 Here is the front sign all lit-up.  The lanterns were all made with wire and a light cloth covering.

 This is the GIANT dragon lantern that stretches down the driveway of the Gardens.

 And here he is glowing in all his dragony glory.

 Steven poses between two of the Chinese opera masks in the lobby.

 This lantern was made completely out of porcelain dinnerware.  His head turns and he breathes smoke.  There are lights all over him too.  All of the plates and cups and spoons were assembled with an ancient tying technique.

 Click the pic for a close-up of his tail and you can see how the plates are all tied together.

 Steven poses under the sign for the year he was born.  I'm a ram and Hannah is a monkey.

 Some panda lanterns mixed with real and lantern bamboo.

 My favorite lantern of the night.  It's a Chinese fable.

 A wall of dragons.  All the little dragons moved around.  It was neat to watch.

These lanterns were made out of glass beads so they sparkled.

Those were just a few of the neat lanterns we saw that night.  It was a lot of fun, if a wee bit on the hot side.  The wind quit as soon as the sun went down, and the humidity shot up.  It was worth it though!