Decorations at Dragon City Mall. Photos by Emily Doyle
If you’ve passed through Toronto’s Chinatown over the past week, you probably know that Chinese New Year is just about in full swing. I briefly popped into Dragon City Mall, located in the heart of the neighborhood, and was greeted by a sea of red and gold decorations for sale. From an ignorant outsider’s perspective I’ve always enjoyed Chinese New Year for these colorful decorations and vibrant celebrations. This year, however, I decided to take a closer look and learn a bit more about it. Because China is a vast country with an extensive and complex history, it’s hard to find many objective truths about the holiday, which is now celebrated around the world. Every region and community has its own twist on the history and traditions of the holiday.
Despite this roadblock, I was able to discern what I think are a few very simplified basics. Chinese New Year, which is also sometimes referred to as the Lunar New Year, is celebrated with a festival over fifteen days beginning at the end of the lunar year. Families gather for a feast on New Years Eve and continue celebrating with several traditions. Many of these holiday traditions center on avoiding bad luck and generating good luck for the New Year. Fireworks and red decorations are meant to ward off the bad luck. Children are given small gifts of money in little red envelopes called laisee in Cantonese or hongbao in Mandarin. Some eat symbolic foods, such as dumplings, to promote prosperity and luck.
Beautiful red envelopes used for giving small gifts of money. Photos by Emily Doyle
Billions of people around the world will celebrate the start of the Year of the Horse with these and many more traditions this month. The horse is part of the Chinese zodiac’s 12-year cycle, as you might vaguely recall from a Chinese restaurant placemat. To find out more, check out Chinese New Year for yourself and head down to Chinatown this weekend. Find (free!) celebrations starting at noon at Chinatown Centre (222 Spadina Avenue) or at 1 PM at Dragon City Mall (280 Spadina Avenue), which will include a parade, martial arts demonstrations, and Chinese dance performances. There will also be a presentation by the Toronto Zoo, which has recently welcomed two Giant Pandas to their collection. Events will take place throughout Chinatown on both Saturday and Sunday from noon until 5 PM.
Not located near the downtown core? Pacific Mall in Markham puts on a Lion Dance performance on February 8th starting at 12:30 PM, also free of charge.
