| Canada celebrates Chinese New Year |
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| Viewpoints | |
| Thursday, 08 February 2007 | |
 The Vancouver Chinese community is the largest ethnic group in the city forming almost 30% of the total population. To put that in perspective, at close to 400,000 Chinese residents that is larger than the entire Chinese population in the UK at 250,000. This makes Chinese New Year a special time with many families getting together to celebrate, as well there are numerous festivals and events throughout the city. Personally, each Chinese New Year my family would get together at my Uncle John’s house; it would usually end up with a gathering of about fifteen people with friends and family coming by. As a kid I it was more just a time to see and play with my cousins. A large dinner would always be prepared and as a fairly Westernized Chinese family there would be a mixture of Chinese dishes like hot pot, steamed dumplings, and fish along with Western dishes like lasagne potato salad and chips (probably to keep the kids happy). Reflecting back, Chinese New Year was probably more special to my parents’ generation than to the kids. My father and his siblings all grew up in a small village in Hong Kong, he’s told me about how he was the second brother to come to Canada attend University after his older brother, my Uncle John, came over a couple years prior. My Uncle John supported and helped my father and my dad in turned helped support his younger brother, my Uncle Randy, when he came to Canada. I can only imagine it as a difficult transition into a new culture and learning a new language. With everyone now living in Vancouver with their own families it must be special to now spend Chinese New Year’s together. To be honest, I was more a fan of receiving the lucky red pouches than anything, I mean as a kid there are only a few times in the year when you are guaranteed to get some money =) I also remember going to Chinatown to watch all the performances. Vancouver has the second biggest Chinatown in North America after San Francisco’s, the Chinese New Year Parade is where you will see a variety of Lion dances, Kung Fu demonstrations and other performances. I always remember going to the parade as a child and being propped up on my dad’s shoulders to get a better view of the action. You can expect to hear the beat of Chinese drums and firecrackers going off with the Lion dancers visiting all the stores in Chinatown, accepting offerings of lettuce and lucky money red envelopes. Close to Chinatown, Dr. Sun Yat-Sen’s Classical Chinese offers a variety of treats, the Garden itself is filled with incense, fruits and flowers and will feature fortune telling, live music, arts and crafts. Outside of Chinatown, there are many CNY celebrations in Richmond due to the large Chinese population there (about 60% are from Chinese ancestry) and number of Chinese restaurants and shopping centers. Almost every shopping mall in Richmond actually features some form of CNY Celebration. Vancouver definitely comes alive during Chinese New Year with something for everyone to enjoy. From a personal perspective, http://vancouverchinatown.ca/events.html http://www.tourismrichmond.com/visitors_calofevents.htm |
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