Chinese New Year 2012

Though it's been almost two month since, I would be remiss to not mention the festive weeks we enjoyed during Chinese New Year.  Celebrated in a big way here, Penang came alive with festivity, performances, and fireworks for 15 days in late January/early February.  The city was dressed in red and gold (denoting prosperity and good fortune), and Chinese lanterns were strung across many of the historic streets.

2012 is the Year of the Dragon, and those born in a Dragon year are supposed to be especially lucky.  The Dragon is a symbol of good fortune, influence, and power.  Since I was born in 1976, I was delighted to think that this was "my year".  Unfortunately, Adam later informed me that since my birthday is in early January and the different calendars don't exactly match up, I am officially a Rabbit.  Oh well, . . . at least I married a Dragon!

For the first two days, Penang was relatively quiet as Chinese families reunioned together in their homes, eating and playing cards.  (We also enjoyed family time due to extra work and school holidays!)  The next weekend, however, things started to get festive!  We attended the Chinese New Year Heritage Festival in downtown Georgetown and enjoyed Chinese food and various performances, including a dragon dance, chingay show, and even a real-life Chinese chess game!

We also had the opportunity to view several lion dance performances, one of them conveniently hosted downstairs in our building.  Below is a picture of the lion blessing our good fortune with offerings of vegetables and peanuts.  The giving of citrus is also considered good luck during this time of year.  All of us enjoyed snacking on the ripe mandarin oranges that were readily available, and once I was even given one from a parking attendant at a grocery store as I left!  The giving of "ang pau" (money-filled red envelopes) is also a common practice during this time of year and are usually given by the older generation to the younger, or as a gesture of thanks to those one appreciates.

In early February, we went to go visit the magnificent light display at Kek Lok Si temple.  For about a month during Chinese New Year, this Buddhist temple is decorated floor-to-ceiling with thousands of lights and lanterns.  The nightly show is so bright that we can see it from our building across town, but we visited in person for better views.  Wow!