Links between Canada and China

A drive across town this morning took Lolan and me along the Rideau Canal, skaters making the most of the blue sky and ice that has been swept clear of snow after yesterday's storm. Where the canal widens out into Dows Lake a skaters' road across it has been created so that they can reach the pavilion. This month, during Winterlude, there'll be rides in horse-drawn sleighs here and huts selling Beavertails. Lolan was encouraging me to cross the river into Quebec (where she lives) and share some hot chocolate with her after I'd seen the snow sculptures in the Jacques Cartier Park.

We also talked about the ice sculptures to be carved in Confederation Park this month: the "Embassy of the People's Republic of China in Canada" is going to "highlight the Chinese New Year with a garden of lanterns, dance performances, a photo exhibit and tea ceremonies in an Asian yurt, and the participation of two teams of ice carvers, straight from the Harbin International Ice and Snow Sculpture Festival".


We were on the way to our German conversation and when we arrived at the house I stopped to take a picture, so dramatic did it look in the snow. There too, in the house, was a reminder of China, because one of the walls in the dining room is decorated with a lovely oriental fresco.

A week on Sunday, Chris and I are planning to attend a Chinese New Year event with the Canada-China Friendship Society of Ottawa, celebrating the Year of the Rabbit with a "banquet" at the Mandarin Restaurant on Ogilvie Road.