Happy (belated) Chinese New Year

Recently I was organizing my photos (which I so need to get off my computer and print) and came across the ones I took at during this year's Chinese New Year celebration in February.  Looking at the pictures I was reminded of the sights and sounds I saw that day and wanted to share my experience with you.

Celebrated at the beginning of the lunisolar Chinese calendar, the Chinese New Year is considered an important traditional holiday.  Boston's Chinatown celebrated the New Year on February 21 with a lion dance parade.  For those of you who have never seen this before (I hadn't before the 21st) this isn't a parade in the American sense - walking down a set route with audiences lining both sides of the street. The lion dance parade featured 10 groups who preformed on a stage and then proceeded to walk through Chinatown and preforming in front of the neighborhood restaurants.

The celebration began with numerous Chinatown representatives and area business people speaking to the crowd.  According to my friend (who is Chinese) it is normal to have a lot of people (there must have been at least 20) give small speeches at events.  Since many were speaking chinese, I was glad my friend joined me - she was able to translate what was being said - wishes of luck, prosperity and good fortune in the year of the tiger (and tell me a little about what I was seeing).

After the speeches were over, the performances began.  Imitating two fighting lions, dances moved to drum beats, preforming various steps and lefts, and tossing lettuce and tangerines into the crowd (for luck and prosperity to those who caught the flying produce).  A few of the groups also preformed the dragon dance which was really interesting to watch (it was also different from the lion dances which began to look the same after a few groups preformed).


Once all of the groups finished their stage performances, they moved onto the restaurants.  Groups of people would follow the dancers from place to place watching the dance.  These performances were more intimate and were meant to grant the restaurant good fortune.  Judging by the wait time I had for lunch at the China Pearl (go if you have never been and like chinese food) the restaurants' year was starting off great.

If you have a chance to participate in next year's celebration I recommend you go - if you know someone who speaks chinese I would also suggestion you bring her too (translators can be helpful).  If you don't want to wait until February, check out Chinatown's website for a list of other upcoming celebrations and events.