Spotlight on China
Pupils from Stirling’s Braehead Primary were among the welcoming committee for Chinese visitors at Edinburgh Zoo recently. The zoo is staging a winter extravaganza entitled The Giant Lanterns of China with the help of 25 craftspeople who have travelled 5000 miles to attend. The craftspeople will begin building over 450 gigantic lantern installations and transforming Edinburgh Zoo into a light spectacle for 50 nights between 1 December 2017 and 25 February 2018. The large-scale lanterns include 30 giant pandas and a 115-foot long Chinese dragon, which took 15 craftspeople a total of 2000 hours to build. They will be showcased alongside beautiful flowers, fauna, insects, and Chinese heritage symbols such as signs of the zodiac and traditional archways. From Sichuan province the craftspeople will stay in Edinburgh to help maintain the 469 lanterns that will form The Giant Lanterns of China event. A group of P5 school pupils performed a traditional Chinese dance, mò lì huā which translates to Jasmine Flower. The craftspeople gifted the pupils with a bespoke, handmade cherry blossom lantern to be put on display at the school.