Exotic offering brightens up a winter's night at Botanics

Published on Monday 3 March 2008 09:31

Spirit – A Chinese Spring Lantern Festival *** Royal Botanic Garden

PAST the hedge and along the path lies the perfect night-time exhibition to chase away the cold winter blues.

Spirit – A Chinese Lantern Festival at the Royal Botanic Garden is a showcase of beautiful Chinese lanterns and plants. The festival is an ancient, public ritual celebrated on the 15th day of the first month of the Chinese calendar. It is also known as Little New Year as it marks the end of the Chinese New Year festivities.

With the exhibition route taking visitors through a number of different climate zones, it's easy to think you've left Scotland behind and are travelling through jungles of the Orient.

The first greenhouse presents beautiful, bright lanterns which light up the dark and illuminate the delicious smelling flowers.

The hot Tropical Palms house is very welcome to most cold visitors and displays more interesting, unusual plants to the strains of atmospheric oriental music.

One greenhouse has an almost creepy feel, with very little light, eerie music and bizarre plants in jars.

It's almost a relief to reach the exit.

The exhibition is a great chance to see the Botanics from a different point of view. Instead of the bright, sunny image of flowers in full bloom, it's interesting to see the gardens in darkness, lit up by the exotic lanterns.

The penultimate greenhouse gives visitors the chance to try their hand at origami, with step-by-step directions on how to make paper flowers. Also on offer is Chrysanthemum tea. The beverage seems to be more popular in China than in Edinburgh, as a table full of unfinished cups testifies.

In the words of Du Shenyan, whose poem, On a Walk in the Early Spring, hangs on a tapestry in one of the greenhouses: "Only to wanderers can come ever new the shock of beauty."

Certainly, most wanderers were shocked at the beauty of the stunning and unusual lanterns and plants of Chinese culture.

&#149 Until March 9