Weifang 潍坊 International Kite Festival was a spectacular and colourful event that highlighted our weekend. With both foreign and local friends together, a day-trip to the festivities was just what I needed. Every year in the middle of April, competitors from all over the globe come to fly and fight against each other for the prestigious title of champion kite-flyer.

The military clad lads didn’t hang about much after we arrived.

The amazing kites aloft included a theme set of marine life with a giant sea-horse, squid, lobster and sting-ray aloft in the sky. Others floating around included the dragon kites, some hoop kites, a fat Winnie the Pooh, a pheonix, a Homer Simpson and the famous box kite.

The deluge of celebrity stardom treatment over us was far more than there ought to have been. We checked out the international competitors pavilions and met any folk we could say Hello to, in their native tongue. When strolling around with Ivan, it’s not too hard to cover most of the globe in this way. However the shear number of locals who would simply request a token photo with us foreigners, is sky-high. Never mind your name, nor any other interesting details, just shut-up and smile! It was quite hilarious and bizarre at the same time.

Unforgettable was the cute girl who must have been in training for how to pose. It was her reflex to do so when I asked for a photo of her and her Hello Kitty balloon. Check out the resulting photo!

On our return train ride to Jinan, the conductor? guy decided to meet the foreign crowd with a little more curiosity. First up, we must establish who is the stronger. A simple arm-wrestle will decide this. One by one, he tried on all the boys in this game of manhood. The conversation only came to a halt when the conductor? guy had to get off at his stop.