Walking Among Illuminated Art: China Lights

The display is a traveling exhibit, and will travel the world.  If it comes near you it is worth the effort to take time for a visit, but do arrive early.  It took us about two hours including stopping for a half hour show, and frequent stops for photographs.  It is the kind of display that must be viewed and also photographed.

First, I cannot say with certainty, since the display is always unique to the area where it is erected.  The display is made to fit the area, and possibly the setting.  In the garden there were many flowers, yet a display of the China Lights on YouTube showed that where it was set up at a zoo in other places it had animals.  The introduction at the show included the statement that the show changes as it travels.

As we walked to the garden the building that served as the entrance to the garden was illuminated.  This was the promise of great beauty within, and great beauty was indeed found.

One of the earliest encounters is with four horses.  Their glowing from within appeared iridescent, and differed from other displays.  The horses were made of several small bottles.  Each horse was uniquely colored, and all were multicolored.  I was most impressed with the horses.  But, the other objects were also beautiful.

The dragon towers so high it can be seen from most points in the garden, and even from outside, but it is not until passing the last row of hedges that it can really be appreciated.  Standing back shows it glows from within, but if you are too close the lights inside the dragon can be distracting as bright spots about two inches in diameter.

Another tall feature is the pagoda, which is set amid smaller features.  It is also only fully appreciated after passing a last row of hedges.  There are many hedges that divide the garden into several sections.

A third tall feature, the windmill, was the last of the tall features.  It had animation with the blades slowly turning.

Large expanses were decorated with lighted figures that could be up to about six feet tall.  They were grouped by type, and as one went about the garden one walked past flowers of different kinds separated by type, pandas, and birds.

There were some pieces that moved, and several that changed in color as different LEDs came on and went off.  Changes were confined to larger pieces.

There were several ponds, one populated with ducks and one with fish.  It was one of the ducks that I first noticed to be moving in circles.  When I got to the pond I could see a submerged circular track with a bare wire suspended about an inch or two above the water line.  On the back of the duck was an electrical brush.  

Some of the paths were through arbors, and there were lights overhead.  Each arbor differed from the others.  There was no repetition.   

insects and mushrooms.  This one was unique.  A floral display might have several flowers of different stages of opening, but each lawn had its own type and color.  The insects were different, comprising a variety of species.

There were twelve figures representing the Chinese years, each unique and looking like a child-friendly version of the animal.  They stood along a walk, some on one side and the others across from them.

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