THE Chinese Association of Guyana put on a splendid show outside New Thriving Restaurant in Barr Street, Kitty, yesterday in commemoration of the start of the Chinese New Year.
Young and old persons of Chinese ancestry, mostly males, gathered to wish each other good fortune through the celebration, which entailed lots of dancing and drum music.
The men took turns and used the Lion made of red, yellow, green, orange, pink, white and blue fabric, and covered themselves while doing the “Lion Dance”.
With numerous onlookers, two Chinese youths covered under the Lion, grabbed a bunch of lettuce and a little box, said to contain a fortune gift, which was hanging from the balcony of the restaurant, using the mouth of the Lion.
Kai Cheung, manager of New Thriving’s Barr Street location said the commemoration has been a tradition in Guyana but was not held last year for unknown reasons.
He explained that this generation of people, Chinese in particular, is forgetting their culture, and activities of this sort are definitely important.
“It’s good to see so many youths, and after we are done here we will go to other parts of Georgetown like Chinese restaurants and continue our celebration,” he explained.
Present at the commemoration were leaders of the Chinese Association of Guyana, Huan Puyuan, Sa Yan Choo and Shen Guo Lian, and owners of the New Thriving Restaurants, Guang Zhan Xioe and Chajien Ging.
Chinese all around the world celebrated New Year on January 22. It is a tradition to celebrate with the hand made Lion, days after the commencement of the New Year.