Strip Tips: Bellagio Conservatory marks Year of the Snake
The Year of the Snake is under way at Bellagio's Conservatory & Botanical Gardens.
The display, celebrating the Chinese New Year, will be up through March 3. The layout was designed with feng shui in mind so water, pine, bamboo and plum are plentiful.
The star of the display is the custom-made Chinese money tree, an 18-foot-tall tree with 384 gold-leafed coins dangling from its branches. I-Ching coins are prominently featured, too.
Other features include a 9-foot-tall king cobra covered in 5,000 blue and yellow luminescent scales and a 35-foot Chinese junk boat with a mast inspired by 15th-century fishing vessels. The boat is made of teak, mahogany and cedar and weighs 3,000 pounds. It floats in a pond filled with 200 koi .
And, if you need to be further immersed in the Chinese New Year vibe, head over to the conservatory between 5 and 6 p.m. That's when the local Beijing Trio performs traditional folk and pop music with Chinese instruments. The trio plays daily.
Showgirl classes
Night School 4 Girls found a new home at the Hard Rock Cafe on the Strip. The 70-minute class teaches students the art of burlesque. Who said the Strip wasn't educational? Among some of the lessons students can learn: how to dance on a pole, how to work a feather boa for maximum effect, and how to use glitter and lipstick. Classes are taught by showgirls from "Fantasy" and other local shows. Classes are in session on weekend afternoons.
Tickets start at $39. For a limited time, locals can get in for $20. Just use the discount code "Locals" when buying tickets online at nightschool4girls.com or by phone at 701-7778.
Vase painting
Watch an artist at work in Regis Galerie in the Grand Canal Shoppes at The Venetian.
From noon to 3 p.m. today and Saturday, an artist will paint Jacarte vases. There are four steps in the process, starting with a blank vase to a nearly finished vase. Because each vase is painted by hand, no two are the same. The public is invited to the free event.
Contact reporter Sonya Padgett at spadgett@
reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4564. Follow @StripSonya on Twitter.
