Happy (Chinese) Dragon Year

So with much ads in the newspapers some bright spark thought it would be a good idea to start celebrating the Chinese New Year publicly - that is - at a Public Forum and not the usual lunch specials. This must represent the burgeoning influence of China in Guyana as we are now to be also blessed with a 24hr Chinese TV Channel.
The event was held in the tarmac-ed /staged area of the National Park. It looked like a couple hundred people were there - mainly families looking for somewhere to take their off-spring for an afternoon out.
It was a disappointment from the start as the Stalls near the entrance was the usual plastic/local jewellery, cheap Chinese toys/stickers, usual games stall with cheap prizes. Then the Chinese Association stall was selling Chinese Cakes and some type of Chinese biscuits, New Thriving hauled out the fast-food section and were doing quite well, then Royal Castle (and the Chinese connection would be...?... perhaps Brian James one of the directors of said company?), E-networks (Chinese internet cable), National Hardware (selling Chinese Cantors and SUV's) and the Chinese railway company -- think they took over the Amelia Falls project from "Flip', Haier Stand and the Chinese Embassy selling cheap DVD's and propaganda-ish books.
 The Stage was set way too far from the Stands to hold a show so the sensible of the Masses came to sit in the VEEP area.
Donald and wife turned up on time but had to do the obligatory tour of the stalls, by which time there were a few drizzles. Sam turned up late as usual  -- dunno why as I saw in the papers that they were at the reception where presumably they saw all this before? Surely it's time to haul in the deputies like Frank the Culture Minister, Robert who's doing much resourcing and dammit Reepu should be made to sit through it all as his family has such a cozy liaison! I'm sure there must be more of them who could deputise?
But I digress-- after starting over half-hour late from the advertised time the famous Lion Dance consisted of two lead dancers who seemed to know the steps and the two hapless 'backs' - the more inexperienced being the back of the yellow Lion whose 'cover' slipped off in the beginning of the dance and kept bumping into the lead guy - rather like a pantomime horse but in this case unintentional.

After a particularly long and rambling speech, unsuited for this type of event - tracing the famous Chinese-Guyanese over the past 160yrs .... we left.