I took a walk down to the Confucius Temple last night in the hope that the New Year lanterns had been lit. 
I was there three days ago and they weren’t and I got very cold waiting. After examining 51 students over the past three days in a very warm room in the South East University, I needed a breath of fresh air. I wrapped up warm and got the number 4 from HanZhong Lu 6 stops to the temple.
Hungry, I popped into the dreaded MacDonalds – at least it’s warm there – and after a spicy chicken thing and bumping into someone I knew I was ready to give my new new tripod its first run out. 
I tried a few up the main street but there was something lacking – not enough of a Wow factor. I headed for the bridge over the canal where the tourist boats leave for canals trips. There were lots of people on the bridge and several photographers encouraging Chinese tourists to pose by the lights in return for a small fee.
After waiting some time for the bridge to empty slightly I took a few shots and then looked up the canal to the next bridge. The free nightly that the city puts on must have been in full swing as, from behind the houses, rays of coloured light filled the night sky. They made a lovely backdrop to the illuminated canal and the surrounding houses.
It was definitely worth getting my hands frozen for.