Gung Hay Fat Choy! This Lunar New Year, make your way to Houston for an eye-popping display of 50 larger-than-life Chinese lantern installations at the Houston Botanical Garden. You can “see the garden glow” with the Radiant Nature display now through February 25. This is a brand-new endeavor for the Garden, intended to highlight the beauty of nature and encourage a thoughtful celebration of the Lunar New Year.
These luminous installations will include a 200-foot-long dragon, entirely befitting since 2024 is the year of the dragon. A 12-foot-tall peacock will unfurl its tail feathers, and everyone will enjoy Instagramming the interactive area where you swing on an illuminated swing or balance your buddy on the see-saw. There’s a digital kaleidoscope you can literally go inside, and plenty of other joyful, immersive lanterns.
Radiant Nature was built at the Garden by Chinese artisans using more than 1,000 components, including hand-painted fabric. This artistic endeavor came about from the Garden teaming up with Tianyu Arts & Culture, Inc., North America's largest Chinese lantern festival producer. The Radiant Nature trail is less than 1 mile with paved surfaces and decomposed granite areas (“firmly, smoothly compacted particles of crushed granitic rock,” says the website, which is appropriate for use by strollers, wheelchairs, and mobility assistant devices). You’ll do a self-guided tour—no mobility devices, shuttles, or guided tours exist.
Although Chinese New Year falls on February 10 this year, many cities celebrate for several weeks, culminating in a lantern festival. (Sometimes called Chinese New Year, Lunar New Year is a more inclusive term that draws in other East Asian countries that celebrate the lunar calendar, including Vietnam, South Korea, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia). Enjoy the beautiful glowing lanterns to begin this new year of the dragon with wonder and awe!
While you're in Houston, experience other aspects of Asian heritage (Houston has one of the largest Asian populations in the U.S). Explore the Chinatown neighborhood with its Teo Chew Temple (a Vietnamese Buddhist temple that honors 14 gods) and Hong Kong City Mall with a happy profusion of shops and restaurants.