Bought this for Moms birthday, because it was not in any EU catalogues :)

She likes the details and the building experience was not bad either

Currently living in China and was worried when I initially found out about these sets that they would be a money grabbing scheme by Lego (because Lego stores have been popping up everywhere it felt like a company drive to get further into China.

However I no longer think so(well maybe a little). They put a lot of effort into it and it is a lovely design of a very important part of Chinese culture that they managed to represent well.

They had traditional Chinese styles for the clothes and house decorations. But the main thing is the table with the food. It's a large table with a revolving center identical to real life. A lot of dishes, with unique pictures for this event along with chopsticks (I had hoped for chopsticks the figures could hold but I also think it should not be rushed, badly done it cause backlash)

My main problems with this set is the mother and the children, because the mother is wearing a dress and the children have children Lego legs, none of them can sit at the table. The instruction manual has it that the child can stand on the chair but that is bad manners. So you can not actually pose the whole family at the table for the meal without changing the legs.

I bought some lights that could be added to the set. It makes it brighter and more lively.

Other things you could try, buy two sets and put them together to make a small house.

Questions : Me and the wife really like this set but are novices at Lego and so are not why it has this price. We feel the dragon dance set is better designed but is a bit cheaper. We just don't know about why they are priced the way they are

I have no Chinese heritage, and probably only know one person of Chinese background.

Yet when this set was announced, I immediately thought "I would really like to get this set". It's potential in terms of build experience and as a display piece jumped out at me. Then it was announced that it would be available in Australia - awesome! But then we heard how limited that availability was going to be, the dramas of stores selling out as soon as stocks hit the shelves, flippers on Ebay, tales of woe of people who missed out on getting one. At this point I thought "yes I would really like to get this set, but not THAT much".

But then I had the good luck to get the set after all.

So is it worth the hype? In a word, yes.

Six minifigs with exquisite printed torsos. The sumptuous Lego feast of printed tiles. Those delightful rice bowls. The lanterns hanging either side of the front door. A pleasant couple of hours in the afternoon building the set.

There a few negatives, but they are minor. Three of the minifigs (the children and the mother) can't sit on the chairs because of the way they're built. There is an issue when building the feast on the table - if you follow the instructions exactly two items on the table clash with each other, but a slight repositioning solves the problem. There are some stickers - not many though.

It's a crime that the availability of this set is so limited.

Last year I was living in South Korea, and the local e Mart had copies of the Lunar New Year sets so I picked this one up based on the printed tiles and the minifigs. It was pricey. About 85 bucks Canadian if you convert the Korean currency. Is it worth it? For collectibility, yes, absolutely. It's going for a lot on e Bay right now. This has a lot of playability and can be modified fairly easily, turning it into a home or a restaurant (Can't replicate those tiles, though, unless you split them up among smaller tables)

It's a charming scene, and I quite like it. It was expensive, but I am ultimately happy that I picked it up.