Celebrating the Chinese New Year in Vancouver, B.C.

Chinese New Year is celebrated all over the globe. There are many traditions that go into such an ancient celebration such as use of the color red, fireworks, and parades. This year, I traveled to see relatives in Vancouver, BC to celebrate the coming of the Chinese New Year.

Before going out, I looked up some of the traditions that are associated with the Chinese New Year. I also found out that there are many foods associated with certain meanings. Oranges bring happiness, while peanuts bring long life. Upon learning of the meanings behind different foods, I decided that while I was out celebrating Chinese New Year, I would get into the spirit of things and sample foods that were associated with things I wanted in my life. According to the Associated Content article, Chinese New Year in Vancouver BC 2008 Year of the Rat, "Another tradition for the Chinese New Year is not to wash the hair on this day, washing hair could result in a loss of luck. Sharp objects such as knives shouldn't be used either for fear of them severing the flow of luck. There are many more traditions to learn about and educating yourself before the festivities could make for a more enjoyable and enlightening experience".

I started off the day at Dr. Sun Yat-Sen's Classical Chinese Garden, there were many events being held, but my favorite was the tai chi demonstration. I've never actually seen tai-chi performers in person, and it was pretty cool to see their talent. Once we left Dr. Sun Yat-Sen's Classical Chinese Garden we decided to head out into the streets of Chinatown to sample some vendor food and see what was going on. There were street vendors everywhere with plenty of different foods so as we walked down the streets of Vancouver we watched the parades and sampled all kinds of different foods. The parade consisted of lion dancers, fan dancers, and martial artists. It was so colorful. There were reds, yellows, and oranges everywhere. I couldn't believe how beautiful the parade was. After walking through Chinatown, we visited the West Han Dynasty Bell, which was pretty interesting, but we started getting pretty hungry. We had been sampling foods all afternoon, but we hadn't had a real meal. So we headed to Hon's Wun Tun House to grab some food. I had a jai meal, which is a traditional vegetarian meal that is served specifically on Chinese New Year. It was delicious! After paying for our meal, we decided that we were all getting pretty tired from walking everywhere so we decided to call it a day.

My celebration of Chinese New Year in Vancouver, BC was one I will never forget. There were so many people and festivities that it was impossible to be bored. It seemed like there was something for everyone. Before traveling to Vancouver, BC to celebrate Chinese New Year, I had celebrated it in London once before. I didn't think that any other city could throw a Chinese New Year quite like the one I celebrated in London, but I was delightfully surprised. I would definitely recommend visiting Vancouver to those wanted to celebrate a festive Chinese New Year.

Works Cited
Chinese New Year in Vancouver BC 2008 Year of the Rat. 14 Jan 2008. Online. 7 Feb 2008.
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