There is no modern lighting on the black beach at night, but many Icelanders habitually bring small light sources. When Chen Xing and the others were in the parking lot, they saw that these light sources were like starlight, messy, swaying and bright.
"There are so many people." Chen Jiaqian said with a wow.
She has been in Iceland for a few years and has rarely seen so many people standing in the same place. This scale even exceeded the Christmas light-lighting ceremony in previous years.
The lighting ceremony is an indispensable sacred ceremony to welcome the coming of Christmas.
This custom has been around for a long time. According to legend, the German missionary Martin Luther in the 16th century lit a candle on a fir branch in the woods, making it look like the starlight guiding people to Bethlehem, just like the three Magi from the East two thousand years ago. Follow the stars in the sky to find Jesus.
In Iceland, this ceremony is usually held under the giant Christmas tree in the square every year, but maybe many young people in Iceland are too familiar with it, so after participating a few times, they like to stay at home.
After all, it's freezing and snowy. If he doesn't go out on a date with his boyfriend or girlfriend, wouldn't it be nice to enjoy the heating at home?
But this new activity spontaneously created by the people of Iceland has attracted the attention of many young people.
After all, I haven’t seen it before.
Judging from these light sources, the black sand beach is already full of people, comparable to the shores of the Jialing River in the mountain city during National Day.
There are not many small vendors, and Chen Xing has not seen anyone doing business here.
However, there was a place at the entrance selling Kongming lanterns set up by the organizer of this event. The price was 1,000 Icelandic krona. Chen Jiaqian calculated the price in exchange for Chinese currency at a glance.
"Sixty yuan each?"
This thing only costs five yuan a piece in China, which is a staggering ten yuan, but now it costs so many times abroad.
There were many people buying, and there was a long queue at the purchasing point.
Today's Kongming Lantern activity started at six o'clock, but many people have already lit their lanterns at this moment. The sky is no longer lonely in the night. In addition to the far-reaching stars, there are more lanterns in the sky floating towards the ocean. .
The beautiful Chinese red is particularly eye-catching in the sky.
Many things are now banned in China, such as fireworks and Kongming lanterns.
In fact, there is a reason why the Kongming Lantern is banned, because if the Kongming Lantern encounters strong winds in the sky, or is slightly unexpected, there is a high probability that the lantern will be ignited by the open flame under the lampshade. Once it falls into a haystack or forest, come on. Standing and other places, the consequences of taking photos are very serious.
And this kind of accident is not controllable like setting off fireworks in an open place.
However, Iceland now has no such worries.
First, there is an overseas wind blowing in the sky above Iceland. The sky lanterns that take off will initially fly a little towards the island. When they fly high, they will turn and fly overseas. After that, they will not cause any fire when they land anywhere. fire.
A small amount of fuel could not support them across the ocean and across to Europe.
And today's materials are not as simple as the ancient Kongming lanterns. Biodegradable materials allow them to be quickly degraded even if they fall on the sea. Even the lantern bones degrade very quickly. This is why their lanterns can now sell so much. The reason is expensive.
The key is that Icelanders are good at this.
If the same thing is non-degradable on one side and degradable on the other, they will buy and use the second one even if they spend ten times more money.
Chen Xing also saw an event promotional photo written in English next to the Kongming lanterns. There were hand-drawn images of ancient Chinese people on it. The text roughly meant:
"Lighting up Kongming lanterns" is a way for Chinese people to pray at night. On every important day or grand festival, Chinese people light up Kongming lanterns to express their good wishes. Before lighting the Kongming Lantern, people should write their wishes on the lamp, and then rise up to the sky with the Kongming Lantern to pray that their wishes will come true.
Reykjavik people's habit of praying has a long history. Now it seems like a small place. It used to be even smaller. It is just far away from the mainland and away from wars and rebellions. The local people like it the most. I just went to Reykjavik Cathedral for worship, prayers and other activities.
I have been praying for thousands of years, but I don’t know if it has any effect.
Nowadays, a new way of praying has suddenly emerged in China, which allows young men and women with nothing to do in the polar night to find a new way to express their love.
Chen Xing didn't want to disturb Chen Jiaqian and her boyfriend too much, so she agreed to call them when she went back later, so she walked alone among these young men and women in Iceland, recording a ten-second video with her mobile phone and sending it to Hedwig.
Paris.
Hedwig was in the studio creating a painting customized by someone else. She didn't know why there were so many people asking her to customize it during this period, since she rarely showed up to promote it.
But it's also a good thing.
Now that I have left my family and come to France to study alone, money is still very important.
It would be okay if she was alone as before, but now there is Chen Xing. Seeing that her boyfriend has made so much money this year, as Chen Xing's girlfriend, she doesn't want to admit defeat. She doesn't say how much she makes, but at least she makes a lot of money. You have to prove yourself.
The phone rang.
Chen Xing sent her a video.
It seemed to be night, there were many people around him, and there were some red light spots in the sky. Are they the Kongming Lanterns he mentioned last time?
it's beautiful.
"Look, there are all couples here. I'm embarrassed to walk here alone. Hedwig, Hedwig, when can you go out with me for a while? Otherwise, I will have to find a new girl here. With you."
"you dare!"
Little fist emoticon warning!
Hedwig smiled, then sighed.
She was really scared when facing strangers, and Chen Xing knew this, so he didn't ask her for anything. Occasionally going out to hang out with Chen Xing for a few days was her limit.
If she were a fish, then the family she lived with Chen Xing would be water. It was okay to leave this water for a short period of time, but over time, she would have to return home to catch her breath, otherwise she would be afraid of holding back her breath. Die in the past.
Chen Xing and Hedwig chatted for a few more words, which quickly calmed Hedwig's pessimistic mood.
"It's time!"
Chen Xing suddenly heard someone say this.
He now knows more than a few words of Icelandic. After living in Iceland for a month, he now has no problem using Icelandic on a daily basis. He just can't read and write. After all, he didn't really go to an Icelandic language training class.
Chen Jiaqian is envious of Chen Xing's language skills.
She had taken time to study in a language class on her way to work. She was exhausted from working and attending classes every day.
Chen Xing quickly realized that it was six o'clock.
Six o'clock is almost the time for dinner. This is the case in China, and it's actually the same in Iceland. After dinner at six o'clock, you can still go out for a walk or something. In Paris, you eat late because there is really nothing to go shopping at night, so you finish your meal later. See After a while, you can sleep directly with the TV on.
But since everyone is here, it means that these young people have either brought something or are prepared to eat later.
After setting off the Kongming Lanterns here, it will probably be eight or nine o'clock when we return to Reykjavik or other surrounding towns. By then, the couples will have dinner and then...
It seems that the organizer of this event also understands it very well.
Chen Xing smiled inexplicably.
In fact, it's because today is Christmas Eve, people still have a lot to do, and this event is only held temporarily, so there is no better time.
Judging from how lively it is this year, if this Kongming Lantern display event is held next year, it will probably be adjusted to a better time.
At six o'clock, after a girl's excited voice rang out from the loudspeaker, many young people in Iceland who were ready lit the fuel under the Kongming Lanterns at the same time. After a while, the Kongming Lanterns on the entire black beach floated one after another. .
Although the fire was lit at the same time, the time when the Kongming Lantern took off was not so precise.
At first they looked like floating UFOs, but after they reached a certain height, they looked like stars.
Some of them are redder, and they should have been bought in stores run by Chinese people in Iceland, while others are slightly lighter in color and have a more transparent light, which are the degradable material Kongming lanterns bought here on the black beach.
It is precisely because of these different models and specifications of Kongming lanterns that the sky has a brilliance far beyond the stars.
At this moment, the farthest lanterns were lit sporadically before the event started. They were already flying very high, and the light they emitted was like a supernova exploding in a very far place. The sky lanterns that had just lifted off were so dense. Like bees near a beekeeper's hive.
People can't help but wonder whether the stars in the sky are Kongming lanterns rising into the sky?
Chen Xing was inspired and took photos everywhere.
This kind of collective display of Kongming lanterns is really beautiful. Is this the aesthetic view of our ancient Chinese people? Is this what modern people call those barren entertainment activities of ancient times?
It’s absolutely amazing!
The Icelanders were also yelling. They had never seen such a beautiful picture. The little lanterns they put out by themselves were really like the stars, as high, as far, as bright, or even brighter. .
"Oh God! I must go to China to study abroad next year!"
"Honey, I believe you!"
"Mysterious Easterners!"
"Photos, photos! Why did I bring a camera but not a card! Tough luck, bad luck, bad luck!"
The sound was as lively as the Chinese New Year.
Well, these two days are the Chinese New Year for them.
At almost eight o'clock, Chen Xing received a call from Sister Jiaqian and they were preparing to return to Reykjavik.
In fact, the sky lanterns are almost invisible after half an hour. The solid fuel placed under these sky lanterns can only burn for half an hour to an hour, and some of them do not burn for that long. Perhaps they were accidentally blown out by the wind, burned, or flew away. If it is too high, there will be no oxygen and it will self-extinguish.
Anyway, almost 99% of it fell into the ocean.
After a few days, there is a high probability that nothing will be left.
They played for so long because Icelanders today are really enthusiastic. This event of thousands of lanterns being launched into the sky gave them a bit of knowledge. Many Icelanders saw a Chinese person next to them and started to take the initiative to talk, just to think about it. Learn more about China.
For example, there is still the question of whether there are such fun and beautiful activities in China.
Chen Xing was asked several times.
In the middle of the way, he also saw a girl who came to play alone and was surrounded by several Icelandic couples. This girl spoke English well. Most Chinese people are not fluent in English or can only communicate using mobile phone translation software. , more Icelanders chose to ask her.
In fact, this is also a relatively introverted girl, her face turned red to her ears.
Later, he was successfully rescued by Chen Xing.
People who come here to travel are either couples, lovers, groups of girl friends, or even girls traveling alone. It is relatively rare for men to travel so far alone.
As for why, Chen Xing couldn't explain clearly. Maybe boys don't like traveling?
Chen Xing discovered this problem when he was in Paris, but he didn't expect it to be more serious in Iceland.
It's such a pity. If there were single Chinese young people here traveling to Iceland today, they might be able to meet many Icelandic girls. They might not even be able to tell what you look like. To them, handsome guys and clowns are nothing alike. almost.
As long as the facial features are normal and the height is appropriate, there will be no problem.
Chen Xing himself has never seen such enthusiastic Nordic people. In Chen Xing's opinion, these Nordic brothers all have the kind of personality that is cold on the outside but hot on the inside. Only after they get to know each other can they have a happy conversation. Normally when walking on the street, few Nordic people would entertain tourists so warmly.
When he brought the girl to Chen Jiaqian, Chen Jiaqian showed an expression like "I recognize you for the first time."
As far as she knew, Chen Xing had a girlfriend. She and Chen Xing had been chatting frequently this month, and she knew that Chen Xing's girlfriend was an artist and very beautiful.
But why did you bring another one today?
Chen Xing introduced her helpfully: "Her name is Zhou Siyu. She came alone. I thought that since there is room in our car, I would take her back to Reykjavik. Is that okay? Sister Jiaqian."
"You call me sister, what else can I do? Okay, okay."
In fact, she really wrongly blamed Chen Xing. Chen Xing literally sent this compatriot who came from China alone back to Reykjavik. He himself has no thoughts of picking up girls now, he is still in the beautiful scenery he just saw.
Sometimes the scenery is not necessarily that of nature, such as mountains, rivers, icebergs and snowfields.
As a miracle of nature, humans have created many landscapes since ancient times.
Aren’t the so-called Chinese-style works that Chen Xing is currently shooting just artificially created scenery?
Seeing things from their own country appearing in Iceland, thousands of miles away, almost at the end of the world, every Chinese person at the scene felt excited, so Chen Xing just wanted to go back to the hotel to edit the scenes he saw today.
Be sure to use true 4K!
System recording can select the resolution when exporting, but it rarely uses the highest resolution.
It doesn’t seem like I’m sorry for this event now.
Chen Jiaqian has a very good personality, and she gained Zhou Siyu's trust in just a few minutes in the car. The two of them are now chatting with each other. They are also Chinese, and their excitement in their hearts is no less than that of Chen Xing.
In this foreign country, a meal of glutinous rice balls and a meal of dumplings can make them miss this place so much.
There was a traditional prayer light ceremony.
This feeling may be unforgettable for any Chinese who watched it live. (End of chapter)
