This is a set of Mini kites I found in Beijing.

This is a set of Mini kites I found in the temple fair! There are all together more than 100 small and exquisite kites in this box!

These mini kites are handmade from paper, and although they are so little, they are ready and easy to fly, even in relatively light winds.

Mini Kites are great as party favors and for kids. This set is about the famous Chinese novel: The Romance of the Three Kingdoms.

--by Cathryn, your tour guide in Beijing

Cotton candy is a popular confection in China.

Cotton candy is a popular confection in China. Nowadays it is usually served in the temple fair or market.

It is said that cotton candy was invented in 1897. The machine used to make cotton candy consists of a small bowl that had tiny holes in it.

As the bowl spun around, the caramelized sugar was forced through the tiny holes, making feathery candy that melts in the mouth.

--by Cathryn, your tour guide in Beijing

Lord Rabbit is a famous handicraft in Beijing.

Lord Rabbit or Tu'er Ye in Chinese is a famous handicraft in Beijing.

The legend derives from the story of Chang'e, the beautiful lady lived in the moon. Her pet is a jade rabbit. The fairytale rabbit descended to a plague-stricken world and healed the people. For his good deed, clay rabbits usually are placed in northern cities during the mid-autumn festival.

Lord Rabbit used to ride a tiger in the clay sculpture. Later on he rides a black tiger, a white elephant, a kylin. The meaning is always the same, each image symbolizes an auspicious blessing.

--by Cathryn, your tour guide in Beijing

These colorful handicraft is Chinese Shehuo Mashao

The colorful handicraft shown in the pic is Chinese Shehuo Mashao. Mashao means “horse feed spoon”.

At first farmers painted shovels for horse feed with colorful guardian spirits to protect their horses from diseases.  Later on people started to paint and hang wooden spoons on the wall for protection from the guardian spirits. The practice became more popular with Shehuo festivals; people not only paint guardian spirits but also characters from folklores and Shehuo performances.    

The artists select high-quality wood as material, carve out a shape of ladle or other living utensils manually by knife. Most of the patterns of facial makeup came from the Chinese folk stories or dramatis personae.

The ladle facial makeups used to be the talismans that were believed to exorcise and bring up with blessings and auspicious wishes.

--by Cathryn, your tour guide in Beijing