Global Winter Wonderland, 2012 - Chinese Lanterns

Last night my son and I went to Global Winter Wonderland which is at Great America in Santa Clara, CA.  The best part of this festival is the Peking Opera which is playing "Monkey King," directly from P.R. China.  This Peking Opera is on a U.S. 2012 tour and is Presented by China Performing Arts Agency and International Culture Exchange Group, Performed by Peking Opera Theater of Hebei, China.  Also, there were 60 gorgeous, gigantic Chinese lanterns depicting both holiday traditions and global icons.

Fun facts about the Chinese lanterns at the Global Winter Wonderland, 2012:
-Millions of LED light bulbs
-100 tons of various steels
-10 CBM of wood
-85,302 of electrical cables
-200,000 feet of silk materials
-35,000 pieces of recycled small glass bottles
-2,000 pieces of ceramic dining ware

This festival is great for families, as children are enthralled by the lights!  My son did not go on a single ride, though you can purchase a ride ticket for $10.00.   I got him one toy bubble gun which entertained him for 2 hours!  When it broke, we went back to the stand and he was given another one with a smile!  My son and I both enjoyed the Peking opera.  We had a snack and water at Biryani Bowl.

Resources:

Global Winter Wonderland, 2012
www.GlobalWonderland.org
facebook.com/Global.Winter.Wonderland
twitter.com/globalwonderlnd

Dining
Biryani Bowl
www.Biryanibowl.com
510-453-1521

Monkey King - A Peking Opera
Location:  Great America Theatre
Monkey King is about Sunwukong, a magically powerful but extremely mischievous "superhero."  Peking Opera encapsulates Chinese culture, history, literature, music, dance, acrobatics, stage fighting, and acting with the specialty arts of face painting and elaborate costumery.
My four year old son and I both loved it.  The words were spoken in Mandarin with subtitles in English easily seen on the side.  My son enjoyed it without hearing the subtitles.  This also inspired my son to start taking Mandarin classes in the fall!

Bubble Gun
No.0319A
No.0319B
Made in China