For Chinese New Year, say Gung Hey Fat Choy, which is how you say Happy New Year in Mandarin. The Chinese New Year was January 31, 2014 and this is the year of the Wooden Horse. This is the year 4712 on the Chinese calendar. According to Chinese legend, those born in horse years are cheerful, skillful with money, perceptive, witty, talented and good with their hands.
The Chinese calendar features a cyclical dating method that repeats every 60 years. The calendar is based on two cycles that interact with each other—the Chinese zodiac, which is divided into 12 parts, and the five elements. The five elements are metal, water, wood, fire, and earth.
Each year of the Chinese Zodiac is represented by a different animal: the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig. The five elements are assigned to the 12 animals (years), giving different characteristics to each animal (year). Assigning each of the five elements to the 12 years creates 60 different combinations that results in a 60-year cycle.
So technically this is the year of the Wooden Horse. As I understand it, if you have a horse or wood in your zodiac sign then this will be a good year for you. I am a Wooden Sheep, so because this is a wooden year it is a good year for me.
It seems the last three years I’ve been in Las Vegas at this time of year and I always like to make a trip to the Bellagio Hotel & Casino to see what they’ve done with the Conservatory. Three-four times a year they completely change it out and it ALWAYS is spectacular. So, for the past three years the Conservatory has been decorated for Chinese New Year.
Here are some photos I’ve taken over the past three years. I especially LOVE the Chinese children made out of fresh flowers! I call this type of floral design, floral sculptures. I also love the floral art and have taken some of my own floral wall art inspiration from what I’ve seen at the Conservatory.
I’ve been told that the entire floor in the Conservatory can be dropped down to the lower level where it is worked on by a team of professionals and then raised back up to the main floor level. This is something I would definitely like to see, heck, I’d like to work on it!
Most of the display is made out of potted plants that need minor servicing. But the floral features must all be replaced over and over again because fresh flowers just don’t last that long and each display goes up for 3-4 months at a time.
Have you ever seen this display? What are your thoughts on it? Would love to hear what you think.