Growing up, most of what I knew about Chinese legends and culture came from that most hideously dubbed children's television show Monkey. My brother was a HUGE fan of Monkey, Sandy, Pigsy and Tripitaka and given back in the old days families had only one TV I got to see quite a bit of it.
Despite this I am still fascinated.
These days I am a little bit better informed given I have one sister living in Hong Kong and another married into an Australian Chinese family. My greater knowledge has not been matched by a more adept use of chopsticks, but I digress.
Australians have taken Chinese New Year very much to heart and today Chinatown mall was packed with families enjoying the celebrations.
I think part of the reason Chinese New Year is so popular is that Australians will adopt any excuse to have a party. Having said that, I think we can learn a lot about New Year celebrations from our Eastern cousins.
Their celebrations seem far more about family and food where ours often come down to alcohol.
Also you have to love a celebration that gives people the chance to dress up, parade through the streets and hand over of packages of money.
On top of that red is my colour and I'm pretty sure I am not the only one happy to start this year afresh.
So 新年快乐 Xin Nian Kuai Le. May the snake treat you kindly.
Gorgeous photos.
ReplyDeleteMy best friend at school was half Chinese and so I quickly learned that she got a red envelope with money in it at her New Year :O)
Thanks for sharing- is lovely to see.
Such colourful photographs, always so much to see in your city!
ReplyDeletesuch vibrant and colourful photos - always apleasure to see x
ReplyDeletesuch beautiful photos xx
ReplyDeleteWhat lovely pics .
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