Dragons and more are inhabiting Riverfront Park

When you attend a festival that is designed to "celebrate" another culture, it's worth attending that festival with actual members of the culture in question. That's what I was able to do on Friday at the Spokane Chinese Lantern Festival.

My wife and her colleague Ann, both of whom are professors at Gonzaga Law School, arranged the date with two Chinese students who are taking law classes through a special international program. The students, who were introduced to me as Yin and Li, are young (Yin is only 18). But they proved to be able guides as we walked through the various set-ups and they explained the significance of both the Chinese symbols at every display and their overall meaning: the traditional importance of family during marriage ceremonies, the annual thanks given for bountiful harvests, etc.

When it came time to eat, both were polite with our waiter, correcting his pronunciation of the dishes — which he seemed to appreciate. And they seemed to enjoy the food that came with the Jing Cuisine from the Beijing region: Peking Duck with pancakes, Hot & Sour soup, Roujiamo (shredded pork and veggies served on a bun) and a dessert called Sugar-coated Haws. In fact, they seemed to enjoy them far better than I did (especially the steamed rice that came with the meal, which by the time it arrived at our table was both cold and dried out).

What they seemed to most enjoy, though, were the displays that had nothing to do with China at all — the various zebras, giraffes and especially the kangaroos. "Kangaroos aren't from China," Li laughed. "They are from Australia!"

We stopped and took obligatory photos in front of the large dragon, which the young women marveled at. And then we left.

If you haven't yet attended the festival, you now have two extra weeks in which to do so. News just broke that the festival's run has been extended for two weeks. If you do go, see if you can't find some actual Chinese to accompany you.

They'll love the kangaroos.