Kite Runners..

Kite flying is a big thing here in China. It doesn´t matter which park you go to, you will always find a crowd of mostly older men letting all sorts of shapes and forms fly up in the air. Only a couple of days ago we went to Fuxing Park, right in the center of the city, to watch a dozen kits flying as high as 1000 meters!! up in the sky.

Every time this brings back child hood memories and makes me wanting to try it again. Last weekend it was finally  time for action. With out friends we got together in Century Park for another picnic. Giving the event a bit of a theme I had made "Zwiebelkuchen" (like a quiche) and the others organised wine since "Federweisser" is a little hard to get for us.

Paul had decided on an eagel for our kite from the fake market. After good 15 minutes of wondering about how to put it together we were ready to let this bird fly:

To be fair there wasn´t a lot of wind.. so we struggled a little..

but only to find out that our kite was put together totally wrong 

- did I mention already that two engineers were involved in the building process?

After another 10 minutes running up and down the green in search for wind we had gained the attention of everyone. We must have looked very lost. Or I have no other explanation for why a a young chinese guy came along and asked if he can help us. "Sure!" I said - excited about getting some professional help and seeing my toy already flying to the moon.

So I took the kite and walked to the end of the green, whilst he took the spindle and started running.. Our little Bird flew up and up and up - "hooray"...but soon .followed by a big "oohhh" commented by everyone - and our kite flew straight into the next tree...

"Oh nooo!!!" I thought...my kite!! But the next second I felt really sorry for my little chinese friend who probably didn´t only loose his face but everything else in that moment. Fortunately I managed to assure him that it was no problem, to prevent him from climbing 10 meters up the tree.

At the end we all had a good laugh about it and will try again next time. Maybe get some training from the guys in Fuxing Park upfront....