Happy Belated Lunar New Year!

Happy Chinese New Year!

Happy Year of the Monkey! We are celebrating in room 20 with paper lanterns, dragons, Chinese brush art and some treats. Last Monday we had a visit from our Cultural Liason Officer, Ming Wang. She told us about the holiday and showed us a slide show of its history. Still to come are pomelo tasting and chicken dumplings. Of the 12 animals of the Chinese zodiac, the children in this class are born either in the year of the rabbit or of the tiger. Children born before Feb. 3 are tigers! 

Here are some dragons. The dragon symbolizes the coming spring. Unlike Western dragons they are bringers of water and rains and good crops. We are learning that in the winter they live in the bottom of each river and lake and wake up in the spring. 



Here is a sample of a Chinese New Year card that people would send to each other. You can see the lanterns, the fireworks and the lucky red colour everywhere. The children are wearing the new clothes they receive as part of the celebrations. They might also have had a haircut!

These are dumplings which would be part of the big family dinner that everyone would eat together. They come in many shapes. These look a little like purses full of money. One of the wishes for the new year is prosperity. We will try steamed dumplings soon.

 Here is a lion costume. On Lunar New Year the lion gets lettuce and red envelopes from local businesses and brings them prosperity. We are having a little lion dance here, to bring luck to our school. We will also have lots of noise- makers to scare away any bad luck.

Here is another great Chinese dragon, this one on the top of  a beautiful building. Happy New Year!