ChinaTown Summer Fair (7/20/2008)

Now that i think of it i probably haven't been to China Town since i moved up north to Lincoln Park, almost an year ago. China Town used to be our hub for cheap yet large portions of food back in the college days, when money was a scarcity. That in no way means that i have abundance of it now, its just that it is little less of a hassle these days. When i found out about the annual China Town Summer Fair i was quite intrigued as that gave me a chance to see the Lion Dance possession(my first..) and grab some delicious street food. The availability of street food is one of the very few things i like about NYC as compared to Chicago. There's nothing like gnawing on a stick of kabob,Kathi roll,Korean beef etc.(the list is endless...) while walking around the concrete jungle in a nice summer day. Its even better in Chicago as its not that crowded and you can always find a place to seat (I do apologize if i have hit a nerve of the hardcore New Yorkians). As it turned out that particular day was exceedingly hot for a street fair and i had to continuously gulp down fluids to keep up with it.

Luckily for me the Lion Dance possession was scheduled to start at 12:30 PM as the previous night being Saturday, i had a long overdue house party at my place. The last one "farewell party for vinmoo" being in November. Being in a depleted financial status these days because of my extensive traveling and expenditure on camera equipments, i reluctantly had to make it a BYOA (Bring Your Own Alcohol) but with a personal guarantee to have some stuff at my disposal to make a colorful yet potent drink out of whatever people bring. We started off with Pomegranate Martini (another of my first, quite good but little bit on the sweeter side) and Appletini's but at the end of the night we ended up with JD reserve "on the rocks" :D. It was quite a night, maybe i was a tad to much into usage of profanities but that i blame on my Americanization :D. We danced on to some Indian and Turkish hot dance numbers. The effects of slightly intoxicated ladies dancing on a wooden floor with high heels on is disastrous as next day i found my poor poor floor filled with numerous small circular dents. It looks like a satellite image of a city just hit by an air raid ( exaggerated of course...there's nothing as bad as that). Potential readers don't say that i didn't warn you:

Wooden floor+Ladies in high heels+Alcohol+Dance music= DESTRUCTION

Anyway, as i was saying luckily for me that the Possession was supposed to start at 12:30 PM. I took the "Red Line" to China Town and was amazed to see so many people on the train, mostly going to the summer fair , plus it being Sunday and the trains running on elevated tracks because of construction(keeping up with the saying "Chicago has two seasons,winter & construction) didn't help the cause.

China Town "Red Line" station

I reached 15 mins before the scheduled start and found the place already overly crowded. It took me some time to find out where the possession was supposed to start and asking the local street vendors was no help as they had no clue about the time and place of it. By the time i figured it out it had already began and it took some hustling on my part to get a few good shots. The dance was being performed by the students of the local martial arts school.I expected a much more professional and colorful possession judging by the fact of what i have seen of it on TV. They were moving quite fast because of the time frame allocated to them being really small which kind of depicts the administrative mentality to cram in as many events as possible rather than paying attention to detail.

Korean beef sticks sizzling on the grill

Chicken wings being grilled

Chinese shoes for sale

Chinese old woman with a straw hat in an Umbrella Shop

After tasting a few of the street food on offer and gulping down couple of coconuts (which were not as cool and refreshing as the ones found along the streets in my home town of New Delhi,India) i walked around a bit to see the wares that were for sale. The two girls with the umbrella hats made me realize how useful those are. I don't carry sunglasses as it is quite cumbersome for me to take them off each time i want to take a shot , not to mention my tendency to misplace any loosely attached stuff(no pun intended whatsoever). Those hats are the perfect solution for enjoying various Chicago summer fests in those blazing sunny days.

The nine dragons wall marking the starting of China Town

The nearby school of martial arts put up a good show of how they train, with some glimpses of an actual contest. Must say that body mass has got nothing to do with the art of fighting and the being thin and agile is a much better option than being big and slow. This being one of the main differences in philosophy in between the east and west. The east has never been a big supporter of brute force until and unless absolutely necessary.

Copyrights @ 2008 Rahuljit Pal.
For More Pictures please visit http://www.flickr.com/photos/rahuljitpal