Art of kite flying

[moon88]

Dear cecil,
In olden days kite flying was very popular in china. Is it still popular among modern chinese people. Thanks.

[Cecil Lee]

Dear Anon,
1. Yes, in a recent documentary on China, I saw that this is still popular especially in the rural areas.
2. The documentary includes how these simple kites were made. And even complex ones that looks like a dragon etc...
3. It is also interesting to note that glass is often pounded into fine grains of glass. `Glue' e.g. rice glue is used to coat the string with these fine grains of glass.
Here, the kite owner would fly his/her kite close to another kite and try to pull or jerk the kite to `cut-it'. The action of the fine glass piece can easily cut another kite like a mini saw. This is considered `Kite fighting' and adds excitement to the activity for some people.
4. In the documentarly, I saw mostly grown men flying the huge kites. Perhaps, the children were not featured because, it would be more interesting to view these beautiful huge kites soaring in the sky.
Warmest Regards,
Cecil

Quote

On 5/20/00 11:20:00 PM, Anonymous wrote:
Dear cecil,
In olden days kite flying was
very popular in china. Is it
still popular among modern
chinese people. Thanks.