Lunar New Year celebrations are in full swing in New York City! At Hudson Yards in Manhattan, public performances are taking place each weekend to bring people together for the holiday. These performances, put on by the New York Chinese Cultural Center, include traditional lion dances and ribbon twirling performances. Ribbon, silk, or scarf dancing can be traced back to the Han Dynasty in China, over 2000 years ago. The art form requires incredible strength and grace to perform the captivating, fluid motions of the dance.
It's the Year of the Rabbit
Chinese Ribbon Dance for Lunar New Year
Lunar New Year – Year of the Tiger
It’s time to celebrate a new year on the lunar calendar! Each year on the lunar calendar is associated with one of the 12 zodiac animals, which include the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog, and pig. This upcoming year, which begins on February 1, is the year of the tiger. Lunar New Year is traditionally celebrated in China, Vietnam, North and South Korea, and Tibet, but today, celebrations take place all around the world. In London, for example, the Light Festival at Battersea Power Station features an installation celebrating the year of the tiger. The Laboratory for Visionary Architecture (LAVA) created “Digital Origami Tigers” in 2010, the last year of the tiger. The large, glowing sculptures “combine ancient methods of lantern making with cutting-edge design and technology” to create a stunning celebration of the new year.
Year of the Rat
Every year over the Lunar New Year, we love seeing the incredible Zodiac Spectacular at the atrium at Crown Towers in Melbourne, Australia. This display features twelve large-scale luminous animals of the Chinese zodiac with over sixty lanterns. This year, the Year of the Rat, the exhibit also features a traditional wishing tree with red envelopes where Melburnians can express support and raise funds for wildlife relief and recovery through the work of Zoos Victoria. Visitors are encouraged to leave messages of hope as well as donations. In honor of the Lunar New Year on January 25, the Atrium also features performances by a lion dance team to “chase away evil spirits” along with a Hawker-style food market. We came across some dancers rehearsing for their performance tomorrow, and my hotel also provided some lovely Lunar New Year treats. The first animal in the twelve-year Chinese Zodiac, rats are known for “being clever, inquisitive and resourceful, which translates into a great year for new experiences and opportunities for success.” We like the way that sounds! Gong Xi Fa Cai!
Year of the Pig
One of our favorite Lunar New Year exhibits is the incredible Zodiac Spectacular at the Atrium at Crown Towers in Melbourne, Australia. This display features large-scale luminous animals of the Chinese zodiac. In honor of the Lunar New Year on February 5, the Atrium also features daily performances during the first ten days of this month by a lion dance team to “chase away evil spirits.” (There is also a Hawker-style food market with roving entertainers along the Crown Riverwalk and a fireworks display on February 9.) Back here in New York City, revelers can celebrate with the annual Firecracker Ceremony in Roosevelt Park on February 5 and the famous New Year Parade and Festival in Chinatown on February 17. Feng Shui Master Marites Allen has forecasts and advice for the Year of Pig: “Possible upheavals may happen as economies of certain countries may be largely disrupted due to changes in rules and market conditions.” And: “Be more considerate, understanding and avoid discussions that could lead to you being misinterpreted. Display your peace and harmony emblems at home.” Gong Xi Fa Cai!
Year of the Dog
Lunar New Year decorations at Singapore Changi Airport. Hi, doggy!
It's the Lunar New Year! Today marks the first day of the Lunar New Year celebrations for millions across the world and ushers in the Year of the Dog. Those born in the Year of the Dog, the eleventh of all zodiac animals, are known for being "independent, sincere, communicative and loyal." Revelers have many chances to celebrate the Lunar New Year in New York City, from firecrackers tonight in Lower Manhattan to fireside stories at Prospect Park to the annual parade on February 25, where floats, lion dancers, and drummers march through Chinatown as confetti streams everywhere. Happy Lunar New Year to all!
Year of the Rooster
The rooster, part of the Zodiac Spectacular at Crown Towers in Melbourne, Australia.
It's the Lunar New Year! Communities in the United States and around the world will celebrate the Lunar New Year beginning tomorrow, Saturday, January 28. According to the Chinese zodiac, it will be the Year of the Rooster. The tenth in the twelve-year cycle of Chinese zodiac signs, the rooster represents fidelity and punctuality. In Melbourne, Australia, where Protima is traveling for business, there are many events for the New Year including the Dragon Parade in Chinatown along with the incredibly beautiful Zodiac Spectacular featuring a large-scale display of animals of the Chinese zodiac at the Atrium at Crown Towers.
Back here in New York City, in addition to the New Year’s Day Firecracker Ceremony and New Year Parade, revelers can enjoy the light installation at the Empire State Building tonight as well as the New York Philharmonic Chinese New Year Concert at Lincoln Center next week. However you celebrate, know that according to advice prepared for the Zodiac Spectacular by Master Janene Laird (AFSM) "you should feel empowered this year with a renewed sense of purpose and ready to take on any new challenges or projects which lay ahead." But those born in a Rooster year should be careful since they are "offending the Tai Sui or Grand Duke and this can lead to careless mistakes, lapses in judgment or even knife injuries."
PRI: “Millions of Americans celebrate Lunar New Year, but this episode of 'Fresh Off the Boat' will be a network TV 1st”
Although the Lunar New Year is celebrated by millions of Americans (not to mention millions around the globe), it is seldom depicted on American network television. That is, until this year. ABC’s Fresh off the Boat tackles this important holiday for Asian-American communities across the US, of which there are more than four million Chinese, nearly two million Korean, and two and a half million Southeast Asian Americans.
"I had a distinct moment when we were filming this episode and I was like, 'Wow, this is probably unprecedented,'" Randall Park, who stars as father Louis Huang, told the Los Angeles Times. “Of any show of the over 400 shows on TV, we’re one of the few shows that can do this. And I think that’s important. It’s another positive aspect of having more diversity of TV—you can explore these traditions that have always existed on the fringes of mainstream American culture.” While Park said that growing up, his exposure to the holiday was limited, “Doing this episode was really a great learning experience for me and I hope for our audience as well.”
While some immigrants attest to the difficulties in continuing to celebrate this holiday as they become more integrated into traditional American culture, the Lunar New Year has become more recognized in the US, and this was the first year that New York City public school students officially had the day off, an important milestone for the Asian-American community.
Grace Meng, a congresswomen from Queens who sponsored the legislation to create the NYC school holiday, said: “When I was growing-up in Queens, I often felt that my ethnicity was ignored or forgotten about when it came to school holidays. I always wondered why school was closed for my Jewish friends on their New Year – on Rosh Hashanah – but not for my New Year; and many kids and parents of Asian descent have continued to wonder why to this very day.” She goes on to say that she knew the difficulty of the bill passing but that “one day, with hard work, its time would finally come.”
Fresh off the Boat showrunner Nahnatchka Khan said that once they learned there would be a second season of the show, they started planning this episode, and show writer Sheng Wang hopes it leads to more awareness of this culturally important holiday. “It wasn’t something I had as a kid,” Wang said in the Los Angeles Times of the holiday’s depiction on television. “So for Asian kids to see something that they’re familiar with on TV, if that helps them feel validated, to feel less alone and less other, that’s a great thing to be a part of.”
While specific Lunar New Year traditions and customs of course vary form country to country, many typical Chinese customs and traditions include a thorough cleaning the house prior to the New Year, buying new clothes, hanging decorations with the color red as well as wearing red clothing, sharing large family feasts that include traditional foods like dumplings and sticky rice cake, presenting red envelopes with cash to kids, and firecrackers. Many also celebrate by going to temples and fairs to pray for good health and fortune. There are also sometimes dancing robots and drones.
In New York City the Chinese New Year celebrations, which began yesterday with traditional fireworks, will culminate in the annual parade featuring the Dragon Dance through the streets of Chinatown.
