Year of the Snake
Gong Xi Fa Chai! Xin Nian Kuai Le!
It's at times like this that I wish I could type in Chinese. I hope through my limited pinyin that you are still able to understand my meaning. Blessings and prosperity to you and a happy new year!
Most of you are very familiar with all the festivities that surround Spring Festival. The cleaning, the cooking, the shopping, and the eating. All of these are probably a part of your holiday in one way or the other. However, thinking about what you would want to hear from me, I thought about how you would like to know how Spring Festival is celebrated in Vancouver.
Vancouver is a unique city in that it is a city full of people from different cultures and background. There isn't a place in the city you can go without seeing an Asian person. People of Asian heritage make up a large part of the population and are vibrant contributors to the city's culture. That also means Spring Festival, or Chinese New Year, is a well-known event in the city. We may not have a long holiday like the one in China and other countries, but non-Asians are often very interested in the customs and traditions that surround Chinese New Year.
At the center of all the public celebrations is Chinatown. Vancouver's Chinatown is the largest Chinatown in North America just after San Francisco. It is the home to many Chinese meat sellers, herbal stores, markets, gift stores, and goods stores. It's a very vibrant community of merchants. Chinatown is also home to the Chinese Cultural Centre and the Dr. Sun Yat-sen (Sun Zhongshan) Gardens. On the last day of the old year, all the stores were busy with shoppers. Most of the shoppers were buying food to prepare for the last meal of the year. There's also a parade through the streets that includes a dragon dance and a lion dance. Of course, all the merchants hang a head of lettuce with some money from their doorways. The lion makes its way to each door and gobbles up the lettuce and the money. You can imagine there's plenty of drum beating and firecrackers in the background too.
Chinatown, though, is not where all the Chinese live. Most of us, myself included, live outside of Chinatown in different parts of the city. There are at least 3 other big celebrations outside of Chinatown this year. Also, in the city's sports arena, a Chinese organization is holding a Chinese New Year Gala. The arena can seat about 18,000 people, so I imagine it will be a very festive event with songs and dancing. I even think they invited some Hong Kong superstars to perform this year.
Like I said before, non-Chinese often have a keen interest in Chinese New Year. Even in our public schools, where we learn mostly Western history and Western culture, teachers often take the time to talk about Chinese New Year and some of the customs. On the evening news, the local television stations will remind people of the New Lunar Year and tell people what is happening in the city.
The most important part of Chinese New Year is the home. Just like in China, everything needs to be cleaned and tidied before the new year begins. Parents are working hard to scrub, dust, and vacuum everything in sight. Some parents even prepare special bath water for everyone in the family to use. Home, of course, also means the last meal of the year. Chinese families across the city gather at home to say goodbye to the old year.
Once dinner is over, though, everyone goes back to their own home. Tomorrow is another working day. Few of us will actually stay up until midnight and wait for the new year to come. We often welcome the new year in our sleep. Boring? Yes. But I'm the one who still has class tomorrow.
Gong Hay Fat Choy! Sun Leen Fai Lok!
Check out the Vancouver Chinatown website to get an idea of what they did for the Chinese New Year Celebrations. http://www.vancouver-chinatown.com/events/parade2001/parade2001.html