The first exhibit we viewed is a temporary exhibit on the history of Spring Festival. There was a series of columns representing each year of the Chinese zodiac, and we decided to get pictures with each of us standing in front of our year. So in the pictures below, Benjamin and I are standing in front of the horse, Daniel is in front of the tiger, and Julia is in front of the dragon. Seth was supposed to stand in front of the pig, but he wasn't being super cooperative, and I was happy to get this pic of him in front of the monkey. The next two photos are from the same exhibit. The dragon head is an example of one that might be used in a parade where lots of people hold up the different parts of the dragon and dance around with it. The fifth picture is of some traditional Chinese kites. The Chinese take kite flying very seriously and would never be caught dead flying the boring diamond-shaped kites Americans use.
The sixth picture is of something called a grab test. On a child's first birthday, his or her parents place lots of different items representing different professions on a tray. The tray is placed before the one-year-old, and whatever artifact he or she grabs is supposed to foretell his or her future. Julia said she did this with her daughter, and she grabbed a 100 yuan bill!
I think the rest of the pictures are self-explanatory: there are some statues of buddhas, a gorgeous vase from the Ming dynasty, and a little boy who didn't get his afternoon nap when he was supposed to and fell asleep on the bus ride home.
