Xindian — A Night Among the Fireflies at Wenshan Farm~~

April 14, 2012: tea picking, painting, and firefly watching at Wenshan Farm in Xindian—Part 2, our nighttime visit to the “river” of fireflies~~

After the tea-picking activities from Part 1, we returned to the teaching area and spotted someone taking a parrot out for a walk. Apparently, birds need their outings too ^.^

A parrot brought for a walk in the teaching area at Wenshan Farm — A parrot out for a walk near the teaching area.

During the break, we wandered around and crossed over to the broad lawn on the other side of the suspension bridge—the one mentioned in the previous post.

Outdoor scenery at Wenshan Farm during the break — A look around the farm during our mid-activity break.

The route toward the other side of the suspension bridge at Wenshan Farm — Continuing toward the far side of the suspension bridge.

A large grassy lawn across the suspension bridge at Wenshan Farm — The broad lawn across from the suspension bridge.

The open lawn at Wenshan Farm in the afternoon — Plenty of open space on the farm’s afternoon lawn.

The nearby tea plants were still young. If we had arrived two weeks earlier, we would have caught the lupines in full bloom, but by then they had already been dug into the soil as fertilizer ~.~

Ground cleared after the lupine season at Wenshan Farm — After blooming, the lupines had been turned back into the soil as fertilizer.

Then we discovered that we could make giant bubbles!

Making a giant bubble in the activity area at Wenshan Farm — An unexpected chance to make giant bubbles during the break.

Lisa declared, “Watch what I can do… heh heh heh…”

Lisa making a giant bubble at Wenshan Farm — Lisa proudly showed off her giant-bubble skills.

After the bubbles, it was time to paint our own fireflies. On the way to the activity area, we passed plenty of cherry blossoms in bloom.

On the way to the firefly-painting area at Wenshan Farm — Heading toward the firefly-painting activity after the bubbles.

Cherry blossoms blooming beside a path at Wenshan Farm — Cherry blossoms greeted us on the way to the activity area.

Cherry blossoms flowering on branches at Wenshan Farm — Blossoms added a touch of spring to our afternoon walk.

Time to start painting! The DIY kit was nicely prepared, with just the right amount of each material and nothing going to waste ^.^

Materials for the firefly-painting DIY activity at Wenshan Farm — The firefly-painting kit came with just the right amount of material.

Look how seriously she was concentrating…

Lisa concentrating on the painted-firefly DIY activity — Lisa concentrated carefully on her painted-firefly project.

Finished! ^.^

The completed painted-firefly DIY project — The painted firefly was finished and ready to show off ^.^

Next came the main event of the evening—off we went to see the fireflies~~~

The scene before the nighttime firefly walk at Wenshan Farm — As darkness arrived, we set off to look for fireflies.

It was my first time trying to photograph fireflies. I had no tripod, and with a child beside me there was no chance to stand still and carefully adjust the camera settings. I snapped a few shots anyway, so please make do with these ~.~'"

Firefly lights photographed at night at Wenshan Farm without a tripod — Without a tripod, I did my best to catch the tiny lights in the dark.

Tiny firefly lights in the darkness at Wenshan Farm — My first attempt at photographing the fireflies during our nighttime walk.

That wrapped up our day. We had been playing from two in the afternoon until eight at night, and honestly, we were getting tired. Between tea picking, the guided activities, dinner, painting fireflies, and finally watching the real ones after dark, we had packed a lot into one long afternoon and evening.

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