The sky's the limit in children's art contest
Paintings about children's dreams will be brought to the moon when China’s Chang’e-5 probe blasts off into space to bring lunar samples back to Earth later this year, McDonald’s announced this afternoon.
The fast food chain has collected more than 12,000 paintings from kids in China for its “Amazing Kids” campaign since May 21. The campaign is ongoing in its more than 3,000 stores through the end of the month.
“One day, I could take rockets to fly to the moon. I hope I will see dinosaur fossil there. How amazing it would be if I would bring them back to life and make friends with them. Then we can all sing and dance with the nice aliens and adorable Moon Rabbit,” 9-year-old Pan Zihua described his dream behind the vivid and colorful drawing.
With around 1,500 votes on McDonald’s app, Pan is one of the top candidates now.
The top 100 paintings with the highest votes will be evaluated by experts to pick top 20. The winning painters will enjoy a journey to Wenchang Space Launch Center in south China’s Hainan Province and witness the moment Chang’e-5 leaves Earth.
Long Lehao, an academician with the Chinese Academy of Engineering and a chief designer at the China Academy of Launch Vehicle Technology, also shared his childhood dreams.
“I came from a poor family, with no electricity, and nothing to do at night. We only had a small oil lamp, so I always loved the moonlight,” he said.
“I wondered what it is like on the moon, what its dark side looks like. It motivated me to study and work hard and it has been fortunate that I can be part of the lunar exploration program now. A person needs to have a dream, pursue the dream, and finally realize it.”