A 45-day traditional Chinese lantern show kicked off Sunday night in a park near the Tel Aviv Land Museum, attracting thousands of Israelis.
It was believed to be the first of its kind during the recent years in the largest industrial and commercial city of Israel, as well as one of the major non-governmental cultural exchange events between China and Israel since they established diplomatic relations 10 years ago.
Kids seemed to enjoy the show better than their parents. A six-year-old Jewish boy kept asking his mother questions like "is this the Monkey King in Chinese fairy tales", "do all Chinese girls dress like this" and "mum, would you bring me to China this summer?"
"It's like in China now," said an Israeli young man, who had been to China for several times on business travel and toured the show with his girl friend, "how wonderful it is to have another old and rich culture here."
His girl friend, Annie, whose mother is a Chinese but never visited China before, said that she felt so close to this ancient eastern civilization and was deeply attracted by it.
"In the past, China was something remote and visional for me, but now I feel I can even touch it," she added.
She said that she has made up her mind to travel along with her boyfriend to China and stay there as long as possible.
In the show, there was also a big lantern with words "welcome to Beijing for 2008 Olympic Games." As the host of the 2008 Olympic Games, China is supposed to attract more foreign tourists in the coming years.
According to Kang Qiaoling, a female folk artist from north China's Shanxi province and one of the sponsors of the event, it took 18 Chinese lantern makers three weeks to re-assemble all these thousands of lanterns.
Besides lanterns, one could also see models of traditional Chinese city walls, Chinese style pagodas and silk-made Chinese persons while enjoying famous Chinese refection.
For those who have a hobby of buying fun and small things, there were also many kinds of souvenirs and traditional Chinese handicrafts for selling at the scene.
At the souvenirs and handicrafts section, the booths are so crowded that one can hardly find a room to bargain with the vendors.
A girl bought a red-color fragrant purse for her boyfriend. An old man bought some mud-made color moppet. When a young girl knew how to play with a rattle-drum, she burst into joyful laughing.
"Lantern is the token of the long wisdom of China, I hope these Chinese lanterns will lead the Israeli people to know more about China," Israeli Foreign Minister Shimon Peres said during a speech at the opening ceremony of the lantern show.
Chinese Ambassador to Israel Pan Zhanlin, who also attended the opening ceremony, said, "lantern represents happiness and good luck. The lanterns light up here in Israel will represent the best wishes of the Chinese people for this land and its people."
(Xinhua News Agency July 16, 2002)
