Chinese lanterns in 2016 & 2017

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For twenty years, I have been going to see the Chinese lanterns at the Montréal Botanical Garden and I love this incredible & magnificent visual show.

Sometimes I took my photos while the lanterns were being installed during the day. Other times, in the evening.

In this project, I show you my best photos of the year 2016 and 2017.

“Autumn and winter: Chinese lantern team members find a new theme. The painstaking design work begins. Precise drawing are made for each lantern, and the order, including dimensions, colours and technical assembly specifications, is sent to China.

Spring: artisans in the Shanghai region make each lantern by hand, following the technical drawings sent from Montréal.

May and June: the lanterns are shipped to Montréal by sea, by rail, and finally, by truck.

July and August: the lanterns arrive in Montréal. It takes two months for electricians, carpenters, painters, plumbers, welders and labourers to build the supports, install the electrical wiring and hang up the lanterns in the heart of the Chinese Garden.

September, October and early November: more than 900 lanterns light up the Chinese Garden!” (Montréal Botanical Garden)

Good viewing!

In 2016 : The Boy-King

In 2016, the exhibition is inspired by the Boy-King.

Among all the emperors who lived in the Forbidden City, seven boys became Emperor, surrounded by regents, mandarins and eunuchs. Their destiny has been ordained since infancy, when they inherited the Mandate of Heaven. The youngest was Xuantong (Puyi) at the age of just two!

The Forbidden City is all the young Emperor knows, for he practically never leaves its confines. This is where he studies, presides over ceremonies, flies his kite and races with his eunuchs.

It is said that the last Emperor, Xuantong (Puyi), learned to ride a bicycle in the Forbidden City and that he enjoyed scattering his eunuchs during these endless processions! (Montréal Botanical Garden)