Chinese New Year Philly Style
The brightly colored lions bob and weave through the crowded streets going from business to business tearing apart heads of lettuce and spitting out leaves with reckless abandon. It’s hard for you to tell where they’re going to stop next, making it a challenge to follow them. You hear hundreds of firecrackers exploding “BANG, BANG, BANG!!” in quick succession, bits of red paper fly past your face, and suddenly you’re standing in a cloud of smoke thick as London fog. You can barely see two feet in front of you. Gongs are banging. Drums are beating. People crowd the sidewalks and doorsteps taking pictures and videos, jostling to get a better view. Most people are considerate but others are rude, standing in the front row holding their iPhones high in the air like the Statue of Liberty-more like the Statue of Idiocy-making it almost impossible for you to get a shot.[1]
You can get a clearer view if you stand up on a doorstep and watch the lions stop to chow down on lettuce hanging from outside a storefront across the street. Why do the lions eat Iettuce? Are they on a diet for the New Year? Good guess, but no. In Chinese, the word for “lettuce” is phonetically similar to the word for “wealth.” By inviting the lions over for dinner, the proprietors hope their guests will bring good luck and prosperity to their businesses in the coming year. Then, the barrage of firecrackers resumes accompanied by the banging of gongs and the beating of drums. Why all the noise? To scare away evil spirits, of course! The lions get super excited over the firecrackers. Their heads move in an undulating up-and-down wavelike motion and they shake their rear ends vigorously and stomp their feet really fast if they’re shouting “MORE, MORE, MORE!” Guys running around wearing laughing Buddha masks provide comic relief like circus clowns, fanning smoke clouds and break dancing in doorways. One of them manages to climb up on top of a U-Haul truck and continue his goofball antics in full view of the spectators, which amuses all the kids, who probably couldn’t see much except people’s legs up to this point, and are probably wondering what all the fuss is about . . .
It’s Chinese New Year Philly style! You’re watching the lion dance parade performed by the Philadelphia Suns,[2] which has become a local tradition. If you just so happen to be wandering around Chinatown at midnight on the actual Chinese New Year’s Eve, you can catch the Suns performing the lion dance, but the parade is a more convenient option for families. It always takes place on the Sunday afternoon closest to the actual Chinese New Year. You need to check the Philadelphia Suns’ website or the Philadelphia Inquirer for the exact date every year because the Chinese New Year-also called the Lunar New Year-follows the lunar calendar, not the Gregorian calendar we normally use.[3]
This year, 2018, is considered the “Year of the Dog.” The animals in the Chinese calendar are the dog, boar, rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, and rooster. According to folklore, the Buddha promised gifts to all the animals that came to visit him and these were the only 12 that bothered to show up, so the Buddha gave each one of them a year of the Chinese zodiac. The signs repeat every 12 years. Chinese astrologists say that people inherit distinctive characteristics from the animal of their birth year, similar to the meaning of the sun sign in Western astrology.[4]
Speaking of gift-giving, a really cool tradition associated with Chinese New Year is the handing out of red envelopes full of green cash! But don’t expect a random person to fork one over to you at the parade. In your dreams, right? In Chinese (and Chinese-American) culture, red envelopes are traditionally handed down from older family members to younger ones and from employer to employee as an expression of appreciation and blessing of good wishes, much like a present from grandma or bonus from your boss at Christmas time. Why are the envelopes red? Because red is the symbol of happiness and prosperity, bringing good luck and warding off evil spirits. You’ll notice all the firecrackers and the paper decorations hanging from the doorways are red too.
The parade goes on and on for almost 4 hours, which must be incredibly exhausting for the dancers they’re young athletes in great shape (Under each lion costume hides 2 people with one controlling the head and the other controlling the body). The territory they cover can’t be precisely defined but it’s basically the area running North to South from Winter St. to Arch St. and running East to West from 9th St. to 11th St. with lots of activity in the middle on Race and Cherry Streets. While this might not amount to a lot of miles, they’re moving at such a fast pace horizontally, vertically, and acrobatically that they’ve got to be wiped out when they finally take those lion costumes off.[5]
Exciting as all this might sound for the casual observer, it strains the body and frays the nerves if you’re out there at the parade too long. Know your limits (and your kids’ limits) and respect them! Come prepared with snacks, water, earplugs and sunglasses even if it’s not sunny; you don’t want all those paper fragments and dust particles from the firecrackers getting in your eyes. Exercise caution around explosives at all times. If you or your family members are either incapable of dealing with or just not in the mood to deal with VERY LOUD noises, crowds, smoke, idiots, kids, and lots of standing around the cold or maybe even some snow and ice mixed in, then, for heaven’s sake, don’t go! But don’t just sit at home either. There are plenty of other ways to celebrate Chinese New Year in Philadelphia,[6] many of them with canine themes in honor of the Year of the Dog.
Here are some examples: The International House at 3701 Chestnut St. hosted its annual Lunar New Year celebration with cultural music, dance and martial arts performances. There was even a nice reception after the show, where you could sample traditional Chinese cuisine. (This event tends to sell out early, so buy your tickets in advance). The Independence Seaport Museum at 11 S. Christopher Columbus Blvd. had family-oriented festival that celebrated Vietnamese, Korean, and Japanese cultural heritage as well as Chinese culture. The Philadelphia Animal Welfare Society (“PAWS”) even brought some dogs to the party you could adopt. The Reading Terminal Market featured Chinese cooking demonstrations by Alice Ye of Five Spice Philly and another by Michael Chow of Sang Kee Peking Duck. The Penn Museum’s annual celebration boasted a day-long schedule of activities, including a lion dance and Kung Fu demonstration by Cheung's Hung Gar Kung Fu Academy, Dance Performance by Great Wall Chinese School Little Mulan Troupe, a vegetable carving lesson, Chinese storytelling, and a “Year of the Dog” photo contest where you could submit your favorite pix of your pooch and visitors could vote for the winner.
But if you do decide to go the lion dance parade, be sure to try some delicacies at one of Chinatown’s many dining establishments. Our personal favorites are Joy Tsin Lau at 1026 Race St. for Dim Sum and Zhong Gang Bakery at 127 N. 10th St. for pastries so divine you’ll find yourself daydreaming about them long after the crowds have gone, the firecracker dust has been swept away, and the streets are quiet once more.
[1] Given the circumstances, I did feel a profound sense of accomplishment when I did finally manage to get the shot of the green dragon coming straight towards me, featured above.
[2] Starting in 1972 as a bunch of kids playing basketball in Chinatown, the Philadelphia Suns have evolved into a volunteer non-profit organization promoting athletic and cultural activities for local youth that extend beyond basketball to include volleyball, college trips, and professional lion dancing, which serves as a fundraiser for its travelling teams. For more information about the Philadelphia Suns or to book them at your wedding, banquet, or company party, go to http://phillysuns.org/#contact-us. Don’t forget–good luck will come your way if you invite them to dinner!
[3] The Lunar New Year is celebrated during the second new moon after the winter solstice, usually between January 21st and February 20th on the Gregorian calendar. It’s called the Spring Festival in the northern hemisphere because it falls between the December solstice and the March equinox. Archaeological evidence suggests that the festival is believed go as far back as prehistory. An agrarian society for centuries, it made practical sense for Chinese farmers to take their much-needed break before the hectic spring planting season. For more information about the timing and origins of the Chinese New Year or “CNY,” see https://www.timeanddate.com/holidays/common/chinese-new-year
[4] If you’re curious about what fortune this Year of the Dog might bring for the animal of your birth year, check out the predictions of Kay Tom, master of feng shui and horoscopes, at http://www.dailymail.co.uk/femail/article-5399119/What-year-dog-bring-you.html
[5] For more about the lion dance, Chinese New Year traditions, and other Chinese festivals, visit this China Tour company’s website. https://www.china-family-adventure.com/lion-dance.html We love this website because it provides so much interesting information in a concise family-friendly style. On the sidebar, there’s a section on crafts for kids, another one about the Chinese zodiac, and another one about Chinese food. It even gives you instructions on how to eat with chopsticks!
[6] Lunar New Year is celebrated with parades and other festivities in American cities with large Chinese populations such as San Francisco and New York and it’s a super big deal in London, UK, too. But it’s an even bigger deal in Asia where it’s a widely celebrated public holiday when most workers get several days off in countries like Brunei, Indonesia, Malaysia, North Korea, Singapore, South Korea, and Vietnam, and China, of course! In China, the Spring Festival lasts for 15 days during which time families get together to eat symbolic foods and engage in rituals such as staying up late on New Year’s Eve eating jiǎozi dumplings shaped like golden ingots symbolizing wealth, “spring cleaning” the house whereby it’s believed that you sweep away the old spiritual residue and sweep in fresh energy, and wearing new clothes to usher in good luck. Fifteen days later, on the Full Moon, the festival culminates with displays of red lanterns, playing a riddle-solving game, folk dancing, and eating yuanxiao (sweet rice balls symbolizing family and unity). For more information on how the Spring Festival is celebrated in China, go to https://www.travelchinaguide.com/essential/holidays/new-year/facts.htm
