I estimate there were probably 5,000 people at the annual Yangjiang Kite Festival and after walking around the place for three hours I concluded I was the only non-Chinese person there.  This made me a bit of a freak that earned me a 10 minute photo session with half of the Chinese school girls attending.  I felt like a second-rate celebrity.  It was both weird and disturbing having people run up to you with their cell phones and ask to take your photo.  Why?  Why?  Why?

Anyway, there were loads of adorable kids at the festival and plenty of photo opportunities for non-kite images.  I took over 1,100 photos in 3 hours, which may be a personal record.

After walking around the festival I quickly realized there was a huge difference between a Chinese gathering like this and a similar one in the US.  The only places selling stuff at the kite festival were kite shops and the Chinese Sports Lottery (scratch-off tickets).  No food.  No drinks.  No souvenirs. Nothing.  Maybe next year I’ll seize that opportunity and open a mini-donut stand.

I’ve created a separate post for kite photos.