STRIP TIPS: Strip resorts celebrate year of the dragon
If you don't observe Chinese New Year, this might be the best year to start. Several Strip resorts are planning to usher in the year of the dragon in some lucky and fun ways.
Dragon dance
Yau Kung Moon, a Chinese dragon and lion dance organization, plans to stage the traditional dragon dance at several MGM Resorts International resorts. The dance is considered a lucky way to welcome the new year. Performances will be held in the porte cochères on Tuesday at 1 p.m. at Aria; 1:30 p.m. at Crystals at CityCenter; and 4 p.m. at The Mirage. On Wednesday, dances will be held at 1 p.m. at MGM Grand and 6:30 p.m. at Bellagio.
Breathing fire
The Venetian and Palazzo will unveil a 128-foot-long, fire-breathing dragon at
1 p.m. Monday. A ceremonial dragon dance kicks off the festivities in The Venetian porte cochère. Firecrackers and an eye-painting ceremony complete the traditional dance. The parade will wind its way through the resorts to the site of the dragon, the Waterfall and Atrium Gardens of the Palazzo. The dragon, which weighs more than 8,000 pounds, will breathe fire at 1 and 5 p.m. daily through Feb. 5. On Monday, it will also breathe fire at 2 p.m. It will breathe smoke 24/7.
Color massage
Massage is good. Colors are good. We've been thinking, why not combine them? Luckily, Qua Baths and Spa at Caesars Palace did. A new treatment called Aura-Soma will combine massage and aromatherapy with colors and light. Supposedly, colors and light have healing properties so it only makes sense to use them during a massage. For the treatment, guests choose one color to focus on that best represents their state of being. If you try this, we bet you're going to be seeing a lot of green as it leaves your wallet and lands in the spa till. A 75-minute treatment runs $210 while a 135-minute session costs $400.
Question
"Why doesn't Shark Reef at Mandalay Bay have a great white shark? Are they ever going to get one?" Carole S., Las Vegas
This is an interesting question, Carole. And it has an even more interesting answer. Jack Jewell, the curator at Shark Reef, has fielded this question before. No, they have no plans to acquire a white shark. At least not right now. Here's Jewell's official answer:
"The husbandry needs of this species can not currently be met in our facility, as great white sharks are a temperate water species and our systems are tropical systems."
The great white shark lives in ocean habitats with temperatures between 48 and 65 degrees Fahrenheit. The occupants of Shark Reef live in a tropical habitat with temperatures between 72 and 82 degrees. This is critical as it affects the sharks' hunting and feeding, Jewell explains.
White sharks feed primarily on marine mammals such as seals and there are very low numbers of seal and sea lion populations in tropical environments, he says.
Great white sharks are also one of the few species of sharks that are protected by law. Acquiring the species presents challenges to them, Jewell says.
Contact reporter Sonya Padgett at spadgett@reviewjournal.com or 702-380-4564. Follow @StripSonya on Twitter.
