You have probably heard plenty about Spring Festival traditions and customs, but what about taboos? People  usually don’t tell you about them until you break a cultural taboo or step on someone’s toes, often totally inadvertently. Did you know that if you get your hair cut anytime during the first lunar month, bad luck will befall upon your maternal uncles? You didn’t? You terrible child.

Whether or not you believe in these superstition, it pays to show respect for them; for Chinese people, it’s how we try to keep traditions alive.

No Cursing

There should be no cursing or inauspicious words spoken during the Chinese New Year celebration. Also, you should not mention anything associated with death or “termination.” If, for example, you finish your food on your plate before everybody else, avoid loudly announcing, “I’m done!”.

No Medicine

Nobody is supposed to take medicine on the first day of the lunar New Year. Chinese people believe that whatever is done on the first day of the year will then continue to last for the remainder of the year, so you’ll be condemning yourself to a year of pill popping. It is also a taboo to greet people in bed; even sick people should attempt to get out of bed and talk to guests in the living room as an alternative. Lucky them.

No Work

Similar to medicine, if you do any kind of work on the first day of the new year, you will be exhausted thereafter for the rest of the year. If anybody at your company, especially your boss, tries to tell you otherwise, be very, very suspicious.

Do Not Finish a Fish

There is a Chinese idiom 年年有余 (nián nián yǒuyú) which means “having more than enough each and every year.” The character 余 (yú, meaning “surplus”) has the exact same pronunciation to 鱼(yú, meaning “fish”); for this reason, preparing a fish dish for every new year’s dinner and also leaving behind some of it on the plate after the meal symbolizes prosperity and abundance in the year ahead.

No Haircuts

Absolutely no haircuts are allowed during the first lunar month (the month of Spring Festival)! It is believed that having your hair cut during the first month will bring bad luck to your maternal uncles. This is one taboo that Chinese people do take it very seriously. Ask the barbers!

Oh, and one more thing. In case you break anything, like a plate, make sure you say 岁岁平安 (suì suì píng’ān) out aloud, meaning “peace all year round”; this is because the character 岁 (suì, meaning “year”) sounds the same as 碎 (suì, break). By saying these words, an unpleasant situation can be turned into a blessing.

Happy New Year!

Photo: etsystatic.com

Christmas and Spring Festival (also known as Chinese New Year) have a lot in common. They are both about family reunions, and are the most important holidays in their respective calendars. You might have celebrated Christmas last month; now, it is time to get into the holiday spirit for Spring Festival.

Spring Festival (known in Chinese as chunjie or 春节) falls on the first day of the first lunar month and ends with the Lantern Festival on the 15th day of the month. This year’s Spring Festival kicks off the Year of the Horse on January 31, with the last day of the celebrations falling on February 14.

A few weeks from now, airports, train stations, and long-distance bus stations will be flooded with people returning home for Spring Festival. The most important days are the eve of Chinese New Year and the subsequent three days. Most Chinese will do anything to make sure they do not miss this crucial time with their families.

Understanding – and embracing the traditions – of Spring Festival will go a long way towards engaging with Chinese culture and friends. We spoke to a modern yet traditional Chinese family to find out how they celebrate the country’s most important holiday.

The Lei-Li Family
Originally from Xi’an in Shaanxi Province, Li Fang has been living in Beijing since 2004 after studying in Germany for four years. After she and her husband Lei Zhen got married, they spent almost every Spring Festival with Lei’s family (also from Xi’an). Their 3-year-old son, Lei Yunkai, was born in Beijing during the Year of the Tiger (2010) so the family nicknamed him “tiger baby” (hubao, 虎宝). Li works for the Daimler Group in Beijing and her husband currently works in Burma for the Chinese government.

Where does your family usually celebrate Spring Festival?
Following Chinese tradition, we usually return to my husband’s home in Xi’an to spend the eve of Spring Festival with his parents, though we also make sure to spend time with my parents.

How important is Spring Festival to your family?
It is the most important holiday for all Chinese and, of course, for my family. It is a good chance for us to catch up with family and friends, and relax after a year’s hard work. When I was studying abroad, I would make dumplings, talk to my parents on the phone, and watch chunwan (CCTV’s annual Spring Festival Gala) on the computer to celebrate.

What are some of your family’s traditions?
We make dumplings, play mahjong, decorate the door with chunlian [red poetry couplets placed around the door for good luck], sing karaoke, and watch chunwan with the whole family.

Are there any special traditions from your hometown that other Chinese people may not be familiar with?
My father is from Tianjin and my mother is from Shandong, so we are not a typical Shaanxi family. When I visited my husband’s family for Spring Festival, I noticed that they still make mo [a type of local unleavened bread], which people appreciated a lot when food was scarce. It was given as a gift when visiting relatives. They also like the number four when giving out gifts, believing that all good things came in pairs.

How does your family decorate the house for Spring Festival?
With the children, we put chunlian around the door and paper cuts in the windows. Decorations are usually red and gold because they are considered auspicious colors in Chinese culture. After I had my son, I enjoyed the process of decorating more because he had so many questions like “Why are we doing this?” I used the opportunity to help him better understand our traditions.

What does your family usually eat for Spring Festival?
Fish, chicken, duck, pork, and ribs are a must. My parents make dumplings before the eve of Spring Festival and eat them after dinner as late-night snack. By contrast, most Shaanxi families – including my husband’s – have dumplings as the first meal on the first day of Spring Festival.

What does your family drink for Spring Festival?
My side of the family has both red wine and Chinese baijiu, but when men get together they only drink baijiu.

Who cooks the most important dinner on Spring Festival Eve?
My mother-in-law does all the hard work: preparing, cooking and cleaning (although I help out too). According to Shaanxi tradition, a man seldom cooks unless he is a chef and they hardly ever do the dishes.

What does your son love the most about Spring Festival?
Lighting fireworks, having lots of candy and snacks, and – most importantly – receiving red envelopes (or hongbao) filled with money. Last year almost everyone gave him a hongbao, though he also received clothes and books.

Do you tell your son stories about Spring Festival?
He is a bit too young right now, but I look forward to telling him more. For instance, some people believed that lighting fireworks could scare away demons. I can also tell him family stories to help him know his relatives better.

What was Spring Festival like when you were a child? How have things changed?
When I was young, spring festival meant new clothes, which many children would look forward to for months. Because we did not have refrigerator at the time, many families would start preparing food several days in advance by preserving and frying the foods so they would keep longer. We also used to visit as many families and friends as possible when I was young, but now most of those visits are replaced by text messages.

Does your family celebrate Christmas or other Western holidays? 
We do not celebrate [the religious aspect of Christmas], but we love the holiday and my son loves to help me decorate the tree. Last month, I bought him an Advent calendar with chocolate and gifts. Suddenly, he was more willing to get up in the morning!

How will your family celebrate the upcoming Spring Festival?
We will not be able to go to Xi’an this year because my husband is working in Burma. We are planning to spend Spring Festival there instead. However, we will definitely talk to our parents on the phone, make dumplings, and watch chunwan on the computer.

Photo courtesy of Li Fang

This article originally appeared on p32-33 of the beijingkids January 2014 issue.

Check out the PDF version online at Issuu.com

The use of chopsticks to pick food up from the plate will earn you several complements from Chinese people. But over time, once in a while your close friends might remind you about some basic chopsticks etiquette such as never insert chopsticks vertically into a bowl of rice. If you want to master the art of using this centuries old cutlery, here are 12 rules to keep in mind.

1. Do not use chopsticks of different lengths. This will remind people a Chinese idiom “three long and two short” (三长两短), which is applied as another name for coffin, because a coffin without a lid is composed of five boards,  three long, and two short.

2. Don’t use chopsticks to poke at each dish without knowing what you want.

3. Do not drop your chopstick on the floor. Chinese people believe that their ancestors are resting underneath the earth, and dropping chopsticks would disturb them.

4. Don’t make noise with chopsticks by hitting the side of your bowl because only beggars do that to get attention.

5. Never fetch food with the wrong ends of the chopsticks. It is considered as a sign of losing face, since the fatter end is supposed to be the face of the chopsticks.

6.While passing someone a bowl of rice or noodles, never insert the chopsticks vertically in the middle of the food for convenience. The action would remind people of burning incense sticks in the pot to sacrifice for the dead.

7. While eating, never hold the chopsticks with your index finger pointing out. Using the index finger to point at someone is the Chinese take of giving the finger.

8. Never use only one chopstick to poke and fetch the food in the plate.

9. Like sipping on your noodles quietly is a good thing, don’t suck on the chopsticks and make noise, although babies and toddlers can be excused.

10. Don’t rest the chopsticks on the table crisscrossed. In Chinese culture, the sign of crossing is negative, linked to the sign used when grading papers that primacy school students receive for a wrong answer.

11. Don’t dig and rummage the food to look for what you want with chopsticks, although hot pot is the exception excused.

12. Do not drop food and liquid from your chopsticks to the table.

Photo: alamodestuff  and lauritadianita (flickr)

In an age when tablets often seem to replace babysitters, many parents are making an effort to wean their kids off technology and plug them into nature instead. Many interests sparked during school years stay with us forever; that is why familiarizing your children with the great outdoors when they are young is vital. However, it is not always possible to get out of the city for the weekend. Luckily, bird watching is one of those activities that can be enjoyed wherever you live.

You might be surprised to learn that Beijing is a birding hotspot. Over 450 different species of birds can be seen here, beating out other capital cities like London and Paris. That is because Beijing is an avian crossroads of sorts; an important stop on the way to breeding grounds in northern China, Siberia, and other places. Though birding is currently confined to a small but active community, the popularity of the pastime is growing.

UK-born Terry Townshend has been bird watching since he was 4. He works at an environmental legislative group and has been interviewed by the BBC, Phoenix TV, the Wall Street Journal, and on Sinica. Recently, he took beijingkids on a field trip to Olympic Forest Park just north of Fourth Ring Road.

We met at the park’s south gate on a snowy Saturday morning. Olympic Forest Park – ten times the size of Beihai Park – is particularly well-suited to birding. Its bird-friendly features include large reed beds, lakes, wooded areas, and clearings. The park opens daily at 6am and admission is free.

Townshend explained that the best time to see birds is in the early morning, when they hunt for food – hence the idiom, “the early bird gets the worm.” When we visited, bird food was limited to dried berries, insects, and small fish from the parts of the artificial lake that were not frozen.

Our host brought a large backpack containing the bird watcher’s essentials: a pair of GOOD binoculars (look through some binocular reviews and pick something in your price range), a field guide, a pocket notebook, and a pen. Townshend also brought a camera with a long-focus lens for pictures. His impressive notebook held records of each species spotted and how many of each were seen at each of the birding sites he visited. We started the outing by jotting down “Saturday, February 8, 2014. Olympic Forest Park. Cold, snowy, -4°C.”

First, we walked clockwise around the large lake in front of the entrance to the park. After only a few steps, Townshend identified a magpie perched in the distance by its call alone. I could barely locate it. The relatively large black and white bird, which Townshend described as “aggressive” and “sociable,” is one the most common species in the park and can be observed with the naked eye. He recorded the sighting in his notebook: “common magpie, 3.”

When asked about bird watching’s educational value, Townshend said: “It is fun to take notes of the birds one sees and research them when you get home, find out where they live and what  they eat, where they migrate, what sort of habits they have, and whether their population is increasing or falling.”

“It is also possible to make the trips more fun by having a healthy competition to see who can guess how many different birds will be seen that day,” he suggested.” For our own outing, Townshend set a goal of 20 species.

Every time we spotted a new bird, he opened his guidebook (the highly-recommended Birds of East Asia by Mark Brazil) to show me a profile of the subject. For example, when we spotted our first yellow-bellied tit, I wrote in my notebook that they all had black heads, usually nested in mountains, and only ventured away from home to look for food.

As we made our way through the trees with just the sound of our boots crunching on the heavy snow, it became apparent that we were not the only ones who came out to admire the feathered creatures. We frequently bumped into Chinese bird watchers with big, serious camera lenses.

Surrounded by large group of photographers was a colorful kingfisher with a bright orange belly and blue plumage above a stream. It seemed to enjoy the spotlight. In the blink of an eye, it plucked a small fish from the water and swallowed it whole. Townshend managed to capture the moment when the fish was hanging from the kingfisher’s long beak. From the other photographers’ satisfied smiles, it was obvious they had too.

To observe the more timid birds, it is necessary to entice them to come closer. Townshend’s strategy of choice is to imitate bird calls. He showed me different recordings on his phone, some of which he recorded himself and others downloaded from the Internet.

“My favorite is the Chinese blackbird,” he said, playing a clear melody that evoked a spring morning. However, birders should never imitate calls during breeding season, which can create stress for nesting birds or mislead males into thinking they have a rival in the area.

After a fruitful morning in which we spotted and recorded a total of 19 species and 93 birds, we slipped between the large reed beds to look for Cygnus bewickii (or Bewick’s Swan) – the only swan to be spotted in the park by Townshend so far.

When we initially did not see the large white bird, he suggested we lay low and give her time. “Birding improves patience,” he explained. “Sometimes it is necessary to wait for a long time in one place to see a bird well enough to identify it. It also exercises concentration, fitness [because birdwatchers change location so much], and sharpens the senses.”

In the end, we did not catch sight of the swan. It was possible she flew somewhere else because of the frozen lake. However, by the time you read this, it will be the beginning of the migration and breeding season, which runs until June. Grab your binoculars, show up early at Olympic Forest Park, and you may be rewarded with sightings of our beautiful feathered friends.

Terry Townshend runs a blog called Birding Beijing (www.birdingbeijing.com) to spread awareness of birding in Beijing. He regularly blogs about the birds he sees (complete with Chinese names) and is working on a field guide to the city’s main birding sites. Visitors can find all the latest birding news on his website and Townshend is happy to answer any questions about birds or bird watching in Beijing.

Photos courtesy of Terry Townshend

This article originally appeared on p34-35 of the beijingkids March 2014 issue.

Check out the PDF version online at Issuu.com

As we take our warm-weather clothes out of storage, nature is also shedding its winter coat and donning its spring finery. Last month, we went bird watching in Beijing Olympic Forest Park when there was still frost on the ground. By now, the last traces of winter should be gone and you’ll be able to spot many new species flitting between budding trees.

Ancient Chinese poets loved to extoll on the arrival of spring. Take the following Tang Dynasty poem, “Spring Dawn” (春晓 , chunxiao) by Meng Haoran (孟浩然):

春眠不觉晓 (chun mian bu jue xiao)
I wake up at the dawn of spring,
处处闻啼鸟 (chu chu wen ti niao)
And hear the birds everywhere sing.
夜来风雨声 (ye lai feng yu sheng)
As sounded the wind and rain overnight,
花落知多少 (hua luo zhi duo shao)
I wonder how many blooms alight.

Most of the plant species in Beijing only bloom between late March and May, so now is the best time to break out of the daily grind in search of nature. Besides the popular peach and cherry blossoms, you might find yourself surprised by the sheer diversity of Beijing’s flora. We spotlight eight plant species below, along with the best places to enjoy their beauty.

Cherry blossoms (樱花, yinghua)
If you can’t make it to Japan for hanami, your second-best choice is Yuyuantan Park in Haidian District. You’ll find a sea of 2,000 pink, yellow, and white cherry trees in bloom, most of which are diplomatic gifts from Japan. Expect huge crowds on weekends. Best times to visit: Late March to mid-April.

RMB 10. Daily 6am-8.30pm. Yuyuantan Park, 10 Xisanhuan Zhonglu, Haidian District (8865 3800) 海淀区西三环中路10号玉渊潭公园

Peach blossoms (桃花, taohua)
Did you know that Beijing Botanical Garden has the largest peach garden in the city? Get up early and lose yourself among the thousands of peach trees before the masses descend on the place. Best times to visit: Early April to early May.

RMB 10. Daily 7am-5pm. Beijing Botanical Garden, Xiangshan Nanlu, Haidian District (8259 8771) 海淀区香山南路北京植物园

Apricot blossoms (杏花, xinghua)
Every spring, visitors flood into Fenghuangling Nature Park to see apricot buds burst into a sea of pink flowers. Apricot trees cover approximately 400,000sqm of the park; families can also enjoy hiking the green hills and exploring thick forests. Best times to visit: Early to mid-April.

RMB 25. Daily 6.30am-5.30pm. Fenghuangling Nature Park, 19 Fenghuangling Lu, Sujiatuo Town, Haidian District (6245 5933) 海淀区苏家坨镇凤凰岭路19号,凤凰岭自然风景公园

Tulips (郁金香, yujinxiang)
Located just west of Tian’anmen square, Zhongshan Park is the only place in Beijing where you’ll find an abundance of tulips. The bulbs were gifted to China from Holland in the 1970s. Best times to visit: Mid-April to mid-May.

RMB 3. Daily 6am-8pm. Zhongshan Park, 4 Zhonghua Lu, Dongcheng District (6605 5431) 东城区中华路4号（天安门西侧）中山公园

Pear blossoms (梨花, lihua)
The most beautiful flowers are often the most fleeting. Despite the Chinese affinity for pear blossoms, they seem to flower overnight, only to be washed away by the rain. Though better-known for the quality of its watermelons, Daxing District also has a Lihua Village with more than 30,000 pear trees. Make a weekend of it by staying at one of the many guesthouses there; there are also shops and restaurants. Best times to visit: Mid-April.

Lihua Village, Panggezhuang Town, Daxing District (8928 8545) 大兴区庞各庄镇梨花村

Crabapple blossoms (海棠花, haitang hua)
Crabapple trees bloom later than peach and cherry trees and the flowering season lasts longer. Every April, more than 3,000 crabapple trees bring crowds to Yuan Dynasty City Wall Relics Park, a normally quiet retreat that runs along a canalon the border of Haidian and Chaoyang. Best times to visit: Early April to May

Free. Daily 24hrs. 24 Anwai Xiaoguanjie, Chaoyang District (8464 8252) 朝阳区安外小关街24号（近育慧南路）元大都城垣遗址公园

Magnolias (玉兰花, yulan hua)
The long-lived magnolia tree was favored by Chinese emperors and produces large, fragrant flowers. The magnolia trees at Tianzhe Temple are the most famous, some of the specimens having been around for over 300 years. The white and lilac blossoms are made even more enjoyable by the tranquility of the surroundings. Best times to visit: April and May.

RMB 55. Daily 8am-4.30pm. Tanzhe Temple, Tantuo Shanlu, Mentougou District (6086 1699) 门头沟区潭柘寺镇

Peony (牡丹花, mudanhua)
Formerly grown only for the emperor, the peony is the floral emblem of China and is associated with fortune, prosperity, and nobility. The “king of flowers” produces massive, heavy blooms that range from fuschia to pure white, canary yellow, and cotton candy pink. To get a close look at these revered flowers, head to Jingshan Park just north of the Palace Museum. Best times to visit: Mid April to late May.

RMB 5 during peony season. Daily 6am-8.30pm. Jingshan Park, 44 Jingshan Xijie, Xicheng district (6404 4071) 西城区景山西街景山公园

Photos: RL HYDE (FLICKR), SALTMARSH (FLICKR)

This article originally appeared on p28-31 of the beijingkids April 2014 issue. Check out the PDF version online at Issuu.com
 

There is nothing quite like being immersed in a 40°C water while feeling below-freezing air on the skin of your shoulders. But while we can appreciate the therapeutic effects of hot water gushing from beneath the earth, a major drawback of traditional hot springs is the fact that you have to share a pool with strangers. Luckily, many hotels and resorts in Beijing’s suburbs now offer private hot springs on balconies and courtyards.

Most of these are located approximately 40km north of Beijing in Changping District. The small town of Xiaotangshan may have a somewhat unfortunate reputation as a former SARS treatment site, after the government hastily built a hospital there in 2003 to deal with the outbreak, but it is traditionally known for its rich geothermal resources.

It is said that whenever you dig a hole deep enough in the town, hot water will appear. This may be an exaggeration, but all the spas we called claimed to use natural hot spring water from more than 3,000m underground.

We visited one of these hot spring resorts, Beijing Meishen Palace Castle Spa. This western-style destination offers rooms with both an ensuite hot spring pool and a private outdoor pool on the balcony.

From Wangjing (where we started), the drive took around 40 minutes. Take the Jingcheng Expressway north until you reach the North Sixth Ring Road. Follow the ring road to Changping District and head west for ten minutes until you see the Xiaotangshan exit. Turn off and take a left at the first set of traffic lights, then drive along for 2km to
Beijing Changping National Agricultural Science Park, where the hotel is located.

The four-story hotel has 54 rooms, all of which come with 24 hour access to hot spring water. Our cavernous room on the top floor (RMB 880 per night), reached through a spiral staircase and an elevator, was very spacious, and came with a king-size bed, large flat screen TV, a small fridge, shower, and toiletries for after your soak.

There were no water-based games in sight, no shrieking children running around, and no cheesy Chinese pan flute music playing from the speakers. There is nothing to disturb the peace of our private two by two meter pool on balcony – a perfect retreat for a couple or a family of three or four.

The hot spring water in Xiaotangshan is rich in sulfur, a naturally-occurring mineral that can also be found near volcanic craters. Sulfur hot springs are known to have soothing properties for the skin and arthritic pain. Some also believe that the iron content in hot springs may boost the body’s immune system and improve its ability to fight infections.

You can identify sulfur in water from the strong “rotten egg” smell caused by the sulfur dioxide gas released into the air, though you get used to it surprisingly quickly. The temperature of natural hot spring water can reach as high as 60°C, so it is often mixed with tap water to balance the heat.

At the first resort we visited, the water pipe leading into the pool seemed to have already turned red from rust, despite the fact that the hotel opened only a few months ago. We noticed the same phenomenon at other resorts however, and realized it was because of residue left by the brownish mineral water. 

There were two taps in the pool – one for hot spring water and one for cold tap water. The water pressure is strong; within ten minutes, the pool was 90 percent full. To keep the water temperature just right, try limiting the hot spring tap to a very small stream and leaving it on for the duration of your dip.

The hotel was very quiet at night. The pool seemed miles away from the din of cars on North Sixth Ring Road. For a truly decadent experience, bring your own candles, milk, essential oils, or bath salts.

However, there are precautions to take. It is not recommended to stay in a hot spring pool for more than half an hour; the sudden decrease in blood pressure can cause dizziness. Be sure to drink plenty of water to replace the fluids being lost through perspiration.

That being said, it is normal to feel a bit dizzy after the dip. Kids should take a shower afterwards to wash away the minerals in the hot spring water, paying special attention to their hair. Have snacks on hand to replenish their energy.

It is also worth taking a look around the resort. Next door, Yiquan Hot Spring Resort, a farmhouse-style compound with individual courtyards (starting from RMB 680/night), features its own hot springs enclosed in a bamboo fence. Yiquan also has a restaurant (the nearest place to dine if you are staying at Meishen Palace Castle Spa) and a zoo with peacocks, ostriches, and goats that remains open even in winter. There were also a number of dogs in the garden, but not to worry – they were all friendly and quiet.

Bigger groups or families looking for a livelier atmosphere and water-based fun might enjoy Jiuhua Resort and Convention Center, located about 4km north of Beijing Meishen Palace Castle Spa. The spacious resort, which can host around 2,000 guests, was built on the site where the Qianlong Emperor and Empress Dowager Cixi used to bathe. Known for its luxury, popularity with businesspeople, different types of herbal baths, saunas, massages, and water games, Jiuhua has also started to offer hotel rooms with ensuite hot spring pools.

Beijing Meishen Palace Castle Spa 北京美神宫温泉城堡
Daily 24hrs. East District, Beijing Changping National Agricultural Science Park, Changping District (6179 0203)
www.dujiacun.org 昌平区小汤山现代科技农业园东区内

Yiquan Hot Spring Resort 益泉休闲会所
Daily 24hrs. East District, Beijing Changping National Agricultural Science Park, Changping District (5166 8564)
www.bjyq.cc 昌平区小汤山现代科技农业园东区内

Jiuhua Resort and Convention Center 九华山庄
Daily 8am-10pm (public hot springs). Jiuhua Shanzhuang, Xiaotangshan, Changping District (400 882 1696) 昌平区小汤山九华山庄

For resorts that are easily accessible by public transportation, try Hot Spring Leisure City (bus 966 from Tiantongyuan Bei and bus 996 from Xi’erqi subway station) or Longmai Hot Spring Village (bus 912 from Andingmen and bus 949 from Deshengmen).

Hot Spring Leisure City 温都水城
Daily 24hrs. Zhenggezhuang Village, Qijia Town, Changping District (8178 8888) www.bjwendushuicheng.com 昌平区北七家镇郑各庄村

Longmai Hot Spring Village 龙脉温泉
Daily 24hrs. Xiaotangshan, Changping District (6178 7676) contact@longmaiwenquan.com www.longmaiwenquan.com 昌平区小汤山镇

photos courtesy of Yiquan Hot Spring Resort

This article originally appeared on p30-33 of the beijingkids February 2014 issue.

Check out the PDF version online at Issuu.com

Photos by petitshoot, ilovemypit, AnneCN, Andrea Christman and Michael’s Cookie Jan (Flickr)