COLOURFULWORLD

Friday 10 February 2017

Chinese New Year celebrations in our neighbourhood

Sunday afternoon (5th Feb), my husband and I were sitting on the backyard patio reading the weekend newspaper when suddenly the sound of drums erupted!

After a couple of minutes I realized the sound was actually "Chinese drums" and we thought it could be coming from somewhere down the road.  After a few minutes I grabbed my camera and went out the front door to investigate what was happening. 
I saw dozens of cars in our usually very quiet street, parked on the verge of the park across the road from our house. When I looked down the street lots of people stood in the front yard of one of the houses and I walked towards it to see 2 Chinese lion dancers dancing to the sound of drums and a lot of the people watching were bearing gifts for the host.



When the Lion dance ended the guests were invited to go indoors and celebrate with some food.
It was interesting and even though I've been living here for almost 10 years it was the first time I saw this celebration in our street.


                                                              Lion dance video
                                                                    **********

On Thursday (9th Feb), our council, the City of Canning in conjunction with the Westfield Carousel shopping centre (not too far from my house) hosted an event to celebrate the Year of the Rooster
It was meant to be an outdoor event, but due to the unusual rainy day and the fact that it was actually quite a cold day too (in the supposedly hottest month of Summer), the event was moved indoors.

The event started at 4pm and ended at 9pm, but as I was working in the afternoon, I only managed to reach the shopping at about 6,30, but still saw the last 3 events that culminated with a magnificent show of Japanese drumming by "Taiko on Perth".

You can watch the videos I made, the Japanese drumming specially is worthwhile! 


Decorations in the shopping centre - top: the Rooster

Traditional Chinese Dancing
Japanese Drumming - Taiko on Perth


Animal figurines of the Chinese New Year


Video of the Japanese Drumming 





HAPPY YEAR OF THE ROOSTER!

20 comments:

  1. Maybe you got new neighbours who did the celebrations? That would be nice, huh?

    Chinese New Year is not celebrated here, though we do have a bigger bunch of Chinese students nearby (maybe you rememeber Affenfelsen, the (ugly) student´s home).

    Looks like fun, can´t wait to hear them, too!

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    1. Yes, I think it could be new neighbours. It's a big celebration here but there is a huge Chinese community in Australia.

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  2. I was pleasantly surprised and impressed to see how Chinese New Year is celebrated in Perth. It looks like a joyous time, both at the party near your home and in the mall. It was fun to see these photos, and I especially enjoyed the dancers and drums. Happy Year of the Rooster.

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    1. Thanks Elizabeth, this is the second time I attend the Chinese New Year festivities at my local mall, last year it was an outdoor event with food vans, etc.

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  3. Wow, love them both! As Ingo wants to visit next time for Australia Day we´ll also include Chinese New Years for sure!

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  4. Very colourful festivities with the Chinese New Year. It is not a big deal here, only in Amsterdam I have seen once some dragons and fireworks in a street.

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    1. Maybe there aren't as many Chinese in Holland as here in Australia.

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  5. Oh wow how fantastic, did you take the two videos? They are so good, loved the lion dancers. How lucky were you to see them in your own street! I feel better now that I've seen the dancers, I didn't get into the city to see them this year. Merci beaucoup Sami.

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    1. Yes I did the videos Grace, I actually have better ones taken with my phone, but I have yet to download them. De rien Grace.

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  6. Wow! Color, beauty, excitement, culture! This is just fascinating - so full of energy! You find the coolest things to show us!

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    1. Thank you J. Glad you enjoyed it. Because of Australia's cultural diversity there are a lot of different celebrations.

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  7. I am angry with myself I missed the Chinese New Year celebrations in Brussels ! Last year I was there. The dance in your street was certainly a surprise, did you never realise that you had "chinese" neighbors ? Celebrating inside in you summer season is indeed quite unusual !

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    1. Thanks for your visit Gattina. I know I have a couple of Chinese neighbors but this is the first time there was a celebration, maybe they are new to the street. The indoor celebration at the shopping centre was due to the heavy rains and storms on the day.

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  8. How fun to have discovered some celebrations on your street! I enjoyed the video with the Japanese Drumming and I bet it's not as easy as it looks because they were all so coordinated.
    Happy year of the Rooster to you too!

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    1. Thanks Sara. The drummers were very fit and it must have been quite hard as they were sweating profusely at the end of the session, it really is hard work!

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  9. Thankyou for sharing your photos and videos of the Year of the Rooster celebrations, Sami. There was dancing and fireworks at a shopping centre nearby but I didn't find out about it until after the event. Chinese New Year (Lunar New Year) is such a happy celebration, isn't it. Regards, Judith

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    1. Thanks for your visit Judith. Yes, I agree, a happy celebration.

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