Chinese New Year - Learn Chinese; Kung Hei Fat Choi! - London Celebrates Chinese New Year in Style with Music, Colour and Dance
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London, (PRWEB) February 1, 2006 -- The London Chinese New Year, is the biggest event of the Chinese calendar and the largest celebration to take place outside of China, as thousands of people of all races filled the streets of London to celebrate the year of the dog in an extravagant style.
Organised by the London Chinatown Association, the grand multi-coloured parade of spectacular dragons, drums and traditional folk dancers made their way through Charing Cross road at 11am. The procession also featured live performances by renowned Gold Sail dance group from Beijing, local schools and London based performers Jun Mo.
The heavy crowd soon piled into Trafalgar Square for the main event, which had been colourfully decorated with balloons and Chinese lanterns. Dragon and lion dancers- a symbol of good luck in the Chinese religion performed on a specially designed stage alongside the highly praised Shaolin monk martial arts entertainers. A spokesperson for the London Chinatown Association said “I would like to thank everyone for bracing the cold weather and for being here with us to celebrate the year of the dog. We would like to wish you all a happy new year, good health and lots of prosperity. Kung Hei Fat Choi! (Happy new year)”
Mayor of London Ken Livingstone also added “I am delighted to be here and proud of the fact that London is home to largest Chinese community outside of China.” He also announced plans to visit Beijing and Shanghai to open London offices to improve businesses and tourism.
The festivities continued in Leicester Square, which had been transformed into an oriental gathering where visitors and locals experienced ‘China in London’ and were treated to a variety of all things Chinese. This included the beautiful dressed red fan dancers, Chinese food, oriental jewellery, Chinese horoscopes, body painting and the dazzling fireworks display. The overcrowded and bustling streets of Chinatown were packed with numerous stalls that played traditional Chinese music before being drowned out by the overpowering and loud live drum players.
The long restaurant queues flowed into the packed out streets making it impossible to move- especially when the dragon dancers joined the crowd. However, the smell of coal and fresh aromatic Chinese cuisines filled the air making it more bearable. Plenty of other man made stalls were set up by nearby restaurants who offered a variety of tasty snacks and food such as Chow Mein Noodles, spring rolls and the famous Ugly Duck.
Australian Psychology student Rachel Evans said ‘This day has been truly amazing. The parade is just so vibrant and full of life, I have never seen anything like it.”
It was estimated that more than 200,000 people attended this year’s celebrations to mark the year of the Dog- the largest celebration outside of China. This year was even more historic as the day also helped to launch China in London 2006- a major season that will showcase over 100 Chinese events from the world of film, theatre, and live dance performances, which will run until the end of March. Tipped to be the UK’s biggest ever celebration of Chinese culture, China in London 2006 has been organised and is in partnership with the Mayor of London, London Chinatown Association and the Royal Academy of Arts.
Article by: Kavita Trivedi
Pictures by David Sell
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