O' Christmas Tree

I was helping BoBo with some homework earlier this week. She had to write about her holiday traditions and share them with her class. Admittedly, we struggled with this assignment because many of our family traditions have changed since we moved, and we are working to create new ones.

One thing that remains constant is our holiday ornament exchange. The girls create handmade keepsakes, and they each receive one special ornament to mark the year. They have their own small tree on which they hang these ornaments. Every year, we save these ornaments for last. When the box is finally given to them, the girls quickly spirit themselves away in their room where they will stay for hours giggling, unwrapping ornaments and hanging them on their little tree. I don't know what they talk about when they're in there, or what takes them so long to decorate such a small tree, but this time together is one that they anticipate every year.

Most of their ornaments are China focused, which isn't exactly a conscious choice, but instead evolved from their annual review of the ChinaSprout catalog. This year, WeiWei asked for the hand-painted tiger papercut ornament. Being a tiger herself, she is very excited for the coming year and is obsessed with everything tiger. BoBo is getting a cloisonne horse. It's one that she has admired for awhile, and this year, it seemed appropriate as a reminder to her to slow down and just enjoy the ride.

While BoBo and I researched to see if our tradition is unique, we found other families who share this tradition as well. One of our favorite displays was Malinda's family tree at AdoptionTalk. We also ran across some beautiful Chinese ornaments at Tania McCartney's site. Her dazzling array of ornaments was enough to cover seven trees in their Beijing home.

The girls' holiday ornaments have become a way for us to blend two cultures. While it may be only a small gesture, it is one that has a great deal of importance to them. And, because they relish their time together huddled around their tiny tree, I know that someday they will also enjoy that excitement with their own family as they open the special box and pull out the ornaments, each with a special story to share.

Parade and Gala for the 60th Anniversary Celebration

I went to a friend's house and watched the parade on the CCTV Live last night. While it was very impressive, I didn't feel it was as spectacular as I expected. Some sections seemed too long. You may watch it online too.

Instead, the gala and firework were much more spectacular. Directed by Zhang Yimou, the gala lasted for three hours and it had over 60,000 performers, most of whom are not professional singers and dancers. The 9,000 sq. m (90,000 sq. ft.) screen was the centerpiece of the performance. The screen changed over 800 times, all of which was done by 4,028 soldiers holding LED lights. It was amazing to see thousands of people perform traditional dances from different provinces and minority regions, along with popular melodies and songs performed by the most well-known Chinese singers. The fireworks, which were directed by Cai Quogiang, a well-known fireworks and installation artist in the West, who also directed the fireworks in 2008 Beijing Olympic Games, was even more impressive with patterns of paintings, pigeons and hundreds of other shapes. You can watch all of these spectacular shows with four chapters online.

What will you at the 60th Anniversary Parade

Having heard so much about the 60th Anniversary parade, I really want to watch it on TV. I found out that I can watch it on CCTV 9 or on the Internet Live, or watch it on Kylin TV in the U.S starting at 9:00pm tonight. ChinaSprout will also carry a DVD of the parade. If you cannot watch it on TV Live, please check out our site after October 12th, when it should be available.

What will you see at the parade? Here is a quick overview of highlights of the parade. I have translated some of them:

• 1949名男青年将高擎600平方米的五星红旗健步走过天安门广场。
  1949 men will hold a national flag that is in the size of 600 square meter (6,000 sq. ft.) (The People's of Republic of China was founded in 1949, that's why they choose 1949 men. I also heard on the radio that all of these men are about the same height of 1.85m, that's very tall for Chinese!)
• 国徽方阵携国徽彩车亮相 人数创历次庆典之最. 该方阵由2009人组成，长46米，宽41米，是所有仪仗方阵中最大的。
  One of parade cars measures 46x41 meter (151x134 feet) and 2009 men walked around the car to form the float (in 2009).
• 世界最大广场将展示最大的画卷: 群众游行部分的背景展示的最大亮点是《江山如此多娇》巨幅国画。画布总面积近2万平方米，重3吨。
  The largest painting in the world will be on display in the background of the parade. Its total size is 20,000 sq. m (65,616 sq. ft.), and it weighs 3 tons.
• 最大的广场音乐会: 1500人联合军乐团，2100人成人合唱团，300人童声合唱团，130人民族打击乐团，将站立表演3个多小时
  The largest open air concert comprised of a 1,500 person orchestra, 2,100 adult chorus, 300 children chorus and a 130 traditional Chinese drum band is being performing on the square for 3 hours.
• 阅兵方队和梯队： 这次阅兵共编了56个方队和梯队，其中徒步方队14个，装备方队30个，空中梯队12个。
  There are 56 military parade floats including 14 floats of soldiers, 30 floats of equipment, and 12 floats of airplanes.
• 群众游行方队：10万游行群众组成36个方阵。
  36 floats of 100,000 people parade.
• 背景展示表演： 8万学生将在天安门广场上，表演41幅、49次变化的文字和图案背景，约1万名青少年形成七色光弧形桥。
  80,000 students will perform 41 diagrams and characters that change 49 times, and 10,000 students will form a rainbow bridge.

And read this New York Times aritle about the paprade and an AP report about the preparation of parade.