This ain't so flamin' plastic bag! it's a "kong ming deng" or Kong Ming Lantern which is kinda like a hot air balloon. (And my blog entry is resembling its haphazard flight path cos of my tech illiteracy!) 
I've always been fascinated by how it works and finally one day, SM brings one home and showed me how it works. 
it's real simple. Just make a light weight lantern out of plastic, make a ring at the bottom, with a very light candle and wick - light the candle and let the hot air fill up the plastic bag and then give a light push.
once the hot air balloon catches a slight wind, off it goes flying to the moon! It was a pretty sight and at least one nice evening to cheer us all up! Hurray to Kong Ming who must have invented this lantern if not why is it named after him? Anyone knows?
Kong Ming Lantern, as the name implies, is invented by the famous Chinese military strategist Kong Ming aka Zhuge Liang, who lived during the turbulent times of the Three Kingdoms. The lantern is used as a night-time military device.
ReplyDeleteI actually made a traditional one using rice paper, rice glue and bamboo sticks during a farm stay in Taiwan. Quite a sight to see more than 100 lanterns rising slowly into the moonlit sky.
Nice blog you have here. Keep writing!