How was the Asia Fest 2017

I love Asia, and many of you know this. I traveled to several Asian countries and I came to love the places I visited, the people I met, the culinary preparations, the landscapes and the Asian world in general. So, as soon as I learned that a new edition of Asia Fest will take place in Bucharest on November 24-26, I did not think about it and I set my time to come to the event on the second day . There were 3 days of events dedicated to China’s culture and trade, but besides representatives of this country, artists, merchants and business people from other Asian countries were also present: Japan, China, South Korea, Vietnam, Thailand, Indonesia, Turkey.

Organized by Media Events, the event has risen to the level of expectations and has attracted around 10,000 Asia-loving people, people that loved the culture, traditions and Asian food.

I paid the entrance fee of 5 lei / person and I entered the Asian horizon at Romexpo, among Asian merchants, participants in Kendama competitions, artists and spectators, as well as simple visitors.

Ever since the entrance, traditional-Asian music and strong spices have met me. On stage there was a dance show performed by very colorful dressed artists wearing very colorful makeup.

There were some country-specific dances in Asia, all in the applause of the spectators in front of the scene.

The artistic show began some time ago when I arrived, so I finished the visit with a slalom through the oriental spice stalls, Japanese instant soups, Syrian sweets, Korean teas, various Chinese souvenirs and more.

At all the stands where the food was sold there were endless tails of Romanians trying to taste delicious dishes. I stopped at the Japanese delicacies and bought two sushi casers, which cost me about 50 lei.I bought an Asian sauce for steaks and a few sweets made in Japan, which I undoubtedly miss 🙂

I then went to the stand where the Thai ice cream was made, by far one of the busiest Asian products stand. Here I saw a few slightly nervous people because of the fact that there was only one person preparing this ice cream on the spot, and there were too many people wanting one. However, in the end I hope everyone left satisfied from there, especially because the ice cream looked good and no wonder everyone wanted to test it.

Just behind the place where the ice cream was being prepared, kendama contests were held, and here I saw the highest density of passionate players in this game, so far. Kids and adults with one kendama in hand and another hanging on the throat practiced and trained for the competition in a general joy.

We admired a beautiful photo exhibition “Story of China 2016“, then we came to the CHINARO association stand where we found a very interesting thing. In collaboration with the Confucius Institute in Sibiu, the CHINARO Association organizes Chinese language classes for children and adults, and starting with the school year 2015-2016, secondary school and high school students from Argeş County can attend Chinese Language and Culture courses. I find it very cool!

Just before I left, I was drawn to a large group of laughing young people who were sitting down and who were cosplay-style followers.

This was initiated,  where else than in Japan 🙂 and it is a form of art in which young people are dressed in different characters from cartoons, many of their clothes being made by themselves, this being a plus reason to boast their “works.” On the last day of this event a contest was held where some known cosplayers were invited.

One place amongst the Asia Fest stands was the Japanese Physical and Facial Therapies Academy, from which we received two vouchers with a 20% discount on all care products available in December, as well as a stand with egg delicacies and quail meat.

As far as food prices are concerned, they seemed to me a little big, but acceptable, if I think that such an event happens once a year, and the taste buds of some of us long for Asian culinary experiences.

We spent only 3 hours at the Asia Fest, but during the three days there were several interesting events, all of them enjoyed by the ones that had more time to visit.

Have you been to Asia Fest? Would you like to get to the future editions of this event?

Until next time, I’ll leave you with some photos from Asia Fest here.