It’s back to the Book of Holidays Around the World to see what Alice van Straalen has to say about Lunar New Year (also called Spring Festival or Chinese New Year).
“A huge dragon — a symbol of good luck — leads the Chinese New Year processions. It’s made of bamboo covered in paper or silk, and more than 50 people may support it underneath, making it weave and wind though the streets. Dancers, acrobats, clowns, and stilt walkers accompany the dragon, and firecrackers go off to scare away evil spirits. In Chinese homes families hang red scrolls printed with wishes for good luck and prosperity, and children receive coins inside little red packets.”
When my husband was working in Shanghai, I went to visit at Lunar New Year and have never seen — or heard — so many fireworks in my life. More recently, at Water Fire in Providence, a summer event, I got to see a fun dragon dance.
(Hmmm, just remembered I had a dragon rug I could use to illustrate this post. Happy Year of the Monkey!)
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