Portland, Oregon, USA - Feb 17, 2026 (CGTN - No access Chinese mainland)
1. Various of lion dance
2. Various of "God of Wealth" handing out lucky red envelopes
3. Child holding lucky red envelope
4. SOUNDBITE (English) mother and child (names not given):
Mother: "What did you learn about the envelope?"
Child: "You have to take it with two hands."
5. Various of people queuing to enter garden
6. SOUNDBITE (English) visitor (name not given):
"It's fantastic, very fun, the kids have enjoyed it a lot."
7. Various of people trying traditional Chinese arts
8. SOUNDBITE (English) visitor (name not given):
"I feel like I am back in kindergarten."
9. Various of children trying paper-cutting
10. Paper-cutting of horse image
11. Visitors viewing snake
12. SOUNDBITE (English) snake handler (names not given) (partially overlaid with shot 13):
"She's super soft, you can pet her both ways. Last year there was a lot of change in my life. Ready for the year of the horse!"
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13. Various of CGTN reporter petting snake
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14. Various of miniature horse, visitors taking photos with horse
15. SOUNDBITE (English) horse owner (name not given) (with reporter asking questions) (partially overlaid with shot 16):
(Reporter: 'What do you know about horses and what they symbolize? What do you think they will give us?')
Horse owner: "Hopefully peace and calmness... (horse neighing)
(Reporter: 'He agrees!')
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16. Visitors taking photos of horse
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17. Various of visitors, calligraphy, Taihu stones, Suzhou-style buildings
18. SOUNDBITE (English) Elizabeth Nye, executive director, Lan Su Chinese Garden:
"For a lot of people who come in here, it's really the first time that they've had a direct opportunity to feel or see what it might be like to be in China."
19. Various of dragon dance

A Chinese Suzhou-style garden in the United States ushered in the Year of the Horse with special events such as cultural performances, family crafts, lion dances and mini horse meet and greet.

The Lan Su Chinese Garden in Portland, Oregon - Suzhou's sister city - was constructed in 2000 to mirror Suzhou's "Master of the Nets" garden. It is usually a haven for quiet contemplation.

But on the first day of the Year of the Horse on Tuesday, it was anything but quiet -- filled with lion dances, traditional crafts, and much more.

The God of Wealth handed out lucky red envelopes, and taught kids the right way to receive them.

"What did you learn about the envelope?" asked a mother.

"You have to take it with two hands," her young daughter said.

So many showed up, lines wrapped around the corner, with visitors saying the wait was worth it.

"It's fantastic, very fun, the kids have enjoyed it a lot," said a visitor.

Organizers set up hands-on stations for traditional Chinese arts, from woodblock printing and stencil painting to jianzhi -- Chinese paper-cutting, a UNESCO Intangible Cultural Heritage.

"I feel like I am back in kindergarten," said another visitor.

To mark the zodiac shift, the garden held a handover ceremony - from the Year of the Snake to the Year of the Horse.

"She's super soft, you can pet her both ways. Last year there was a lot of change in my life. Ready for the year of the horse!" said the snake handler.

Visitors could even meet the zodiac symbol up close -- a 21-year-old rescue miniature horse named Milo.

For a quieter moment -- a chance to learn about calligraphy and why a certain Chinese character gets hung upside down around the New Year, as it means "good fortune has arrived".

Cultural education, organizers say, is the garden's mission year-round -- in what's considered as one of the most authentic Suzhou-style scholar gardens in North America.

"For a lot of people who come in here, it's really the first time that they've had a direct opportunity to feel or see what it might be like to be in China," said Elizabeth Nye, executive director of the garden.