Garden of the Month
Montreal Chinese lantern
festival 2012 
Each year the Montreal Botanic Gardens features a new and renown
festival of lanterns, based on a theme, in their Chinese garden (the
largest outside of China). Lanterns are designed the previous
year in Montreal, fabricated from silk in China, then shipped over and
assembled for the festival that runs during September and October.
The Magic of Lanterns theme for 2012 is the Festival of Peaches. In
Chinese mythology, the queen mother of the west Xi Want Mu serves her guests the
peaches of immortality from her garden, which ripen only every 3000 years and
confer immortality on those who eat them, Among her guests, depicted in the
lanterns, are the Eight Immortals, the goddess of compassion Guanyin, the Jade
Emperor, the laughing buddha, and the Monkey King. Find
out more on the
gardens website.
mythical
bird
dragon
in woods
dragon
close
soldiers
guests
with gifts
emperor
and entourage
festival
of peaches
queen and Jade emperor,
rare pearl with golden phoenix and white jade dragon
happy
Budai (not Buddha) and Guanyin (Goddess of Compassion)
Monkey
King (set to ruin the festivities)
dancers,
bird, horses
Eight
Immortals
woman
with peaches
pandas
horses
and lotus pods in lotus pond
