Photo: Julia Barclay. This is a detail of the dragon atop the lantern. If you can imagine Kenny G saxophones and synthesiser wafting it clockwise, excited Chinese children running and screaming, soldiers standing stoically at the cardinal points, a toddler learning how to walk, someone selling glowing plastic rabbit ears, a steady flow of people on their way to the water and a group of Western artists staring aghast, all taking place in the amphitheatre around this lantern, then you get an idea of the atmosphere of the festival.