Festival

This morning, there was no sign of the festival that was going on in the field downstairs yesterday. I still don't know what it really was. The family who lives downstairs from us organised it. One of them is some sort of Chinese medium or priest or something, and the festival is for the goddess that she represents.

Yesterday morning, there was intermittent music wafting up -- wailing erhus, Chinese pipes and boinging gongs and cymbals, and some chanting. There were fairy lights strung about the trees so it looks quite pretty at night. But in the daytime, it was a bit hazy and smoky from the burning joss. It was festive though -- there was a food tent by the side of the central tents where the altars are set up, with a towering steamer belching out nice with the clouds of steam. In front of the whole setup, there was a painted facade erected along with the canvas shelters, and it says (in Chinese): Celebrating the lady in white's thousand autumns.

I took a couple of photos using my cellphone but when I tried to download them today, I couldn't find the photos. I think I didn't store them properly after taking them. See, I should best leave cellphones to make calls.

I do wonder who the lady in white is. On the facade paintings, she's pictured sitting on a lotus. L thinks it's Kuan Yin, the goddess of mercy but I don't think so. Kuan Yin is always standing, and holds a vial and a whisk. This lady in white doesn't.

Downstairs Family speaks no English and my Mandarin is limited so I can't ask them more. So far, we've only nodded, waved and talked about the weather and that classic Chinese conversation starter of: have you eaten yet? They're friendly with HRH and once, the lady asked me what sort of dog she was but I didn't have the Chinese for Schnauzer. She made cooing noises at HRH who wagged back. The language of friendship is quite universally straightforward.