Kung Hei Fat Choy

Holy Moly what a day! I went into town to watch the Chinese Dragon dance...along with thousands of other people. Carey came along and I'm glad I wasn't on my own, especially when we were trapped...literally...in China Town. At 1 o'clock hundreds of firecrackers exploded and the dragon dance began. It started in Albert Square but there were so many people we couldn't get anywhere near there. We walked along the road past hundreds of people but there were no gaps.

I asked the couple in front of me if they minded if I sat in the road in front of them so that I could take photos and they were quite happy. There was a cone so I perched on it...it was the most uncomfortable seat I've ever sat on....I think I still have a ring tattooed on my left buttock. "Don't let that slip," said a man, "it could be nasty." There were plenty of guffaws but, thankfully, I managed to stay safe!

There were two dragons and they dipped and dived, twirled and twisted and danced along the road. I have to say I was surprised to see that there were only a couple of Chinese people who actually manipulated the dragons, but it was great. The drumming was loud and constant and you felt like your heartbeat slipped into a rhythm with it.

As the procession passed we all followed behind, this was when I made a crushing decision...."Let's follow it into China Town!" It seemed like a good idea at the time. Thousands of others also decided to do the same thing. China Town isn't really that large and yet people kept squeezing their way in...more and more...slowly we surged forward....more and more. Eventually there was no possible way to move, we were all stuck. I have to say I could easily have panicked as we just couldn't move anywhere, it was quite a scary position to be in. There were children in buggies and they must have been terrified, it was bad enough for the adults. It took over half an hour to move about twenty yards and the relief we felt when we eventually escaped was fantastic.

We had felt so tense squashed in the crowd and the only cure was to head to M&S to have some lunch and sit down...and breathe. Whilst I enjoyed my emmental and mushroom toastie I spotted Liz. Liz taught me biology at school and then we worked alongside each other for a few years until she left school. I hadn't seen her for a long time and it was great to catch up. We swapped numbers and we are going to get together and share our experiences of that place!! Why is it that everyone who leaves that school does so under a cloud?? I am so glad I am out of it. Anyway it was great to meet up with Liz.

Here's another view amongst the throngs.