金玉滿堂 - "May your wealth [gold and jade] come to fill a hall"
This afternoon I went into the centre of The Hague to watch some of the Chinese New Year celebrations. As I stood at Spui I could hear the distant sound of drums. When I turned into Gedampte Gracht I was greeted by the dragon you see above. The crowd was then politely asked to move back (I didn't quite understand the Dutch, but it sounded polite!) and firecrackers were then lit!
The lighting of firecrackers, I know now, is one of the many traditional new year activities! I soon realised that the brightly coloured lion dancers had been working their way along the street, visiting each business in turn.
After a little bit of investigation I found out that this traditional lion dance, or cai ching (採青), is believed to bring good luck and fortune to the business.
So, to all my Chinese friends out there I say 大展鴻圖 ("May you realise your ambitions") and I hope the year of the snake brings luck to everyone!
No comments:
Post a Comment