Lantern Festival

Yesterday was the last day of the Spring Festival which began on the Chinese New Year. For lunch today I bought about two pints of lamb meat from a street vendor. The food was very good and cost only two dollars. I've decided buying from street vendors is the way to go because the food is so cheap. Because street vendors don't have any overhead such as rent, electricity, employees and health inspections they can offer their food for much less. At night I decided to head downtown to see what was happening for the Lantern Festival. I decided to pull an Amanda and walk downtown. After an hour I reached the outside of where most of the action was happening but was barred from getting in by a row of police officers. After standing there for 15 minutes some people started yelling pushing in the back. I initially resisted the pushing because I didn't want to get beat down by the Chinese police but they quickly pushed us through the line of police. None of the police seemed to be trying to stop us after we busted through so I headed on into the central area. After getting in I found it to be somewhat disappointing because it was exactly the same as the previous day. For some I reason I thought they placed lanterns on the river but apparently I was wrong. While downtown I bought a Xiang Qi board or a Chinese Chess set. I had seen the exact same set other places selling for $12 and $22 at other stores when I found someone selling the set for $5. The board is kind of cheap but it looks nice if you don't analyze it to long. About the time I bought the board it began to downpour. Since nothing was happening I headed home. I started by walking toward my school to get away from other people hoping to get a cab. After 20 minutes I crossed a large river (possibly the Chang Jian or Yangzi) I had never crossed before I decided I was lost. Fortunately, I was able to find a cab without to much difficulty as I had gotten away from the crowds. I was very grateful for the cab as I was lost, wet and couldn't see, and he was cheap only costing me $2