Gung Hai Fat Choy!! It's the Year of the Tiger... grrr

2010 marks the year of the Tiger, and this year - to the delight of all those who resent Valentine's Day - it fell on February 14th. The Lunar New Year is a celebration common to many Asian communities, but far and away the largest in population, it's the Chinese who put on the biggest party. Fortunately I had the morning off, so I got up bright and early for the parade, whose start time had been pushed back to 9.30am because of the Olympics. Yeah, very early. Still, it was worth getting up for!

With the Olympics in town there was a heaving crowd and fantastic atmosphere. Besides all the usual features of a parade:

- scouts, guides and marching bands

(yeah, hearing this song made me laugh)...

- flag wavers, bearers and dancers

and the poor sucker in a mascot costume!

...there were also a few awesome differences. First of all, you could not escape the beat! Loud, banging drums (which my camera will not do justice to), clashing symbols, and fireworks popped and crackled the bad spirits away.

A few local celebrities were also there, handing out red envelopes with little sweets inside for good luck.

Then there were the costumed dancers!

I was surprised to find out that these were Lion Dancers, instead of Dragons. Apparently the Chinese had about as accurate a picture of lions as Northern Europeans - actually, it's a little scary how similar the two depictions are. Anyway, the dancing was pretty impressive.

With the Dr Sun Yat-Sen Gardens open for a suggested donation of only $5 there was a lot to see, even after the parade - so I shall have to continue this another day! But for now, Gung Hai Fat Choy (Congratulations and be prosperous), and Happy New Year to all!