Pawan Kumar
Quan is a third-generation Chinese-Canadian. He is not usually a superstitious person, but he still believes that cleaning your house on the first day of the Lunar New Year Celebration is the same as cleaning out good luck and prosperity.
Even though the 66-year-old, who was born in Victoria, doesn’t follow all Lunar New Year Celebration traditions, she still wants to teach her two 7- and 13-year-old grandchildren some of them.
“We still go to dim sum as a family, and I still give them “lai see” (lucky money) in red envelopes,” said Quan, a member of the Victoria Chinatown Lioness Club. “I still think it’s important to do that, to remind them of their history.”
Quan grew up in what she thinks was the only Asian family in Cordova Bay. For many years, she just tried to be like her white friends.
“I didn’t want to be different back then. “I didn’t want my parents to talk to me in Chinese in front of people,” she said.
The Lunar New Year Celebration, she loves the culture and traditions that come with it. It is a national festival in China and most of the rest of Asia. Each of the 15 days has a different theme or special tradition. Next Sunday, there will be a parade and other events in and around Chinatown in Victoria to mark the day.
What a special visit to @OYROrcas, my elementary school for K-7, for Lunar New Year celebrations! Thank you Ms. Aulak, Mr. Leibovitch, Tang Lion Dancing and all staff for the amazing afternoon of celebrations. Students will remember today for a lifetime. #sd36learn pic.twitter.com/EOrKUabbFL
— JB Mahli (@JB_Mahli) January 20, 2023
Quan still has a silk cheongsam, which is a traditional dress, but she says it would be too formal to wear to greet guests and family.
Quan said, “I’ll probably just wear a little bit of red somewhere on my clothes.”
There are also red decorations all over her house. Almost always, the words on banners will be written in gold and wish people luck and success.
When her family and friends come to visit her during the holidays, they always pull out fancy red envelopes when they see her grandchildren. The envelopes are called lai see in Cantonese and hong bao in Mandarin. They are usually filled with a small amount of money and decorated with fancy Chinese calligraphy and symbols. The envelopes are only given to children who have not yet gotten married. They are meant to bring the child happiness and good wishes.
As lai see, the Canadian $2 bill was a popular denomination when it was in use because it was red. Before the new year, people and families would go to the bank and try to get as many new bills as they could to put in the envelopes.
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Quan gave oranges to her coworkers on Wednesday as part of a similar gift-giving tradition last week. She said, “Oranges are like gold.” “The gift shows that I care about my coworkers.”
Unlike the common Gregorian calendar, the lunar calendar is based on the cycles of the moon and sun. This means that the date of the Lunar New Year changes every year, but it always falls between January 21 and February 20. Usually, it happens at the same time as the second new moon after the winter solstice.
So great to teach at a school that embraces all cultures and celebrations! We enjoyed starting Lunar New Year off with a bang! 🧧🎋🐰Looking forward to more celebrations next week… 👀 #Schoaps3rd @ROEworld pic.twitter.com/pF0HtPKIZu
— Christine Schoaps (@c_schoaps) January 20, 2023
Businesses and schools close for one to two weeks in many Asian countries so that workers can go home to celebrate the holiday with their families.
This year is the Year of the Rabbit, which is one of the 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac. The other animals are the Rat, Ox, Tiger, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Goat, Monkey, Rooster, Dog, and Pig. People think that those born under these signs have the same personality as the animal they are named after.
She was born in the Year of the Monkey, according to Quan. “And it’s kind of scary, because I have some of the traits that people say monkeys have,” she laughed. “It’s like believing in horoscopes; there are good and bad parts to it. It’s just fun.”
People who were born in the Year of the Rabbit are thought to be careful, smart, and funny. It’s one of the Chinese zodiac signs that people like the most. Rabbits are thought to be good at art and cooking because they are fast and have skilled hands. People born in the Year of the Rabbit should work in education, medicine, the law, or politics.
The Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association is putting on a parade in Victoria’s Chinatown on Sunday, January 29. The parade will start with a lion dance by the Wong Sheung Kung Fu Club, which has been teaching both kung fu and lion dance since 1974. This year, the club’s biggest show of the year will start with a routine with 10 lions. This is the most lions the club has ever used at once, said Daniel Low, the club’s most experienced lion dancer, who has been dancing for 31 years.
Low is a second-generation Chinese-Canadian whose family has been in the restaurant business for years. He said that the Lunar New Year is like “Easter, Thanksgiving, and Christmas all rolled into one.” “Our family eats for about two weeks in a row.”
People do lion dances to bring good luck and scare away bad spirits. In Chinese culture, the lion is a sign of power and wisdom.
After the dances, two lions will go on a parade through Chinatown. They will stop at shops where leafy vegetables and lucky money are hung as gifts for the lions.
The lion dance is meant to scare away bad spirits and bring businesses luck and success.
A dragon dance and other traditional Chinese dances will be done by students from the Chinese Public School.
The event on January 29 runs from noon to 3:30 p.m. and starts at the entrance to Chinatown at the corner of Fisgard and Government streets.
