Tuesday, February 9, 2016

Kunghei Fatchoy

'Happiness and prosperity!'  
Kunghei fatchoy /gong-hey faa-chwhy (Cantonese)

Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, is marked by the lunisolar Chinese calendar, so the date changes from year to year.

The festivities usually start the day before the New Year and continue until the Lantern Festival, the 15th day of the new year.

I did my celebrating today as I was invited to join a group of seniors to celebrate Chinese New Year 2016. I had a very nice time and wanted to share the photos.

First I was greeted at the door with a name tag and someone offered to check my coat.  One inside, I was given a choice of two gifts. I chose a small calendar because I liked the red packaging.

Some of the Decorations
 
I have always loved red paper lanterns. Actually I like all paper lanterns but red stands out.


Our smiling servers


Food

Upper right and clockwise: fried rice, rice noodles, spareribs, sweet & sour spareribs, tofu and veggie

 Dessert

Warm sesame seed balls with red bean paste...so delicious. We also had an orange and some candy.

Appreciative diners


Entertainment Program

The entertainment program was very full. I was quite tired and had to leave at the last performance when the seniors did their sword dance (you'll see them below in the double ring dance).

Violinist playing a modern, electric violin & our MC who teaches drama to many of the performers.

A beautiful couple who sang a romantic song.

A group of limber seniors doing a double ring dance. They also did a sword dance but I didn't get photos.
A young champion on the left and her younger sister.

This young woman is champion Guzheng musician in both Canada and China. She also has impressive showmanship.
 
A Spoken Word group. The woman in black is reciting in English after the Chinese version done by the group.

These two ladies did a very nice Indian dance.

I think this is called a handkerchief dance.  The woman also performed the Indian dance above in purple costume.
This group of women performed several times in beautiful costumes (different costume for each dance).

Here is the same group of women in another costume.

 There are special events for Chinese New Year going on all month in my city.
 There are performances and exhibits at the  Dr. Sun Yat-Sen Pavilion  in Chinatown.
The Lion Dance is performed in different locations around Vancouver though I haven't seen one for a few years.
The Lion Dance will be the culmination of many of the activities and be held in Chinatown on Sunday.



 There are so many activities to choose from.

I hope you enjoyed the photos.

Are you planning to celebrate Chinese New Year where you live?

Kunghei Fatchoy!

9 comments:

Nancy Chan said...

You had a wonderful CNY celebration with food and so many activities going on over there.

Jan said...

That looks a fabulous celebration Penny. I love all the dancers and wow those seniors look very fit and healthy with their legs in the air! The food looks delicious. The nearest Chinese New Year celebrations to me are in the nearest city which is about an hour ago. In previous years a local restaurant put on a lovely celebration but they've now closed down. We didn't have the time to look for any other nearer celebrations this year due to work, but I do love Chinese New Year and will try to make the time next year.

jabbott said...

Looks like a great day out x

Joanne Noragon said...

The event was wonderful, as were the photos. I wish I were as limber as many of those seniors are.

Red said...

Good on you for participating in a n event from another culture. It's a fascinating use of color shape and movement.

Anita said...

So nice to see the Chinese New Year Celebration!I see you are great fond of many cultures..That i like very much:))))
Thanx for sharing:)

xxx

Anita

Cynthia said...

That was a wonderful celebration, from food to entertainment. The costumes and decorations are so colorful.

Barb said...

It looks like you had a busy Chinese New Year. Food and performers look fantastic. Our little CO mountain town has no festivities that I know of of.

Jeanie said...

This is just terrific! So colorful and what a wonderful way to learn new traditions. This definitely would have been "my thing." And I would have picked the same gift you did for the same reasons -- I cannot resist wonderful packaging!

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