เทศกาลจีน - Chinese Festival

Last week we had a Chinese Festival here in Phichit and there was a lot to eat and a lot to see! We went for one night and it was really crowded. Most were food vendors-- food that we didn't really want to eat but that the Thai people loved, such as:

Octopus

Squid

The lanes were really crowded and we weren't going to eat so we turned down another lane and found a Chinese temple with young performers.

Crowded festival

Mock fight

This group did somersaults through not only a ring of fire but a ring of knives. 

Large Chinese dragon

We love the elderly here in Thailand, they are too cute!

We aren't too sure who the group of youth were who put on the small show but they were incredible and we enjoyed watching! We also saw dances with whistles, a man with fire crackers wrapped around him and other mock fights. 

On our way out of the festival we stopped at some clothes vendors and one lady handed us two sheets of paper. We all tried to figure out what they were and why they handed them to us. We saw that one looked like a hand-drawn map of Phichit county and the other was a brochure of some sort for Phichit. The lady then returned, and with pens. She motioned for us to write something and we realized that she was asking for our signature. After I made sure it was only a map and brochure, we signed the papers and then took a picture with the lady. We realized that the map and brochure were simply random sheets of paper that were closest to the vendor. I will never forget when we were asked for our autographs at the Chinese festival.