The quintessential Lion Dance
Performed throughout the 15 days of the Chinese New Year, the lion dance signifies power, courage and good fortune
The green fruit you see in the pic is a pomelo (think Chinese grapefruit). The pomelo symbolizes abundance. During the dance, one of the lions 'swallowed' the fruit,then sprawled out on the floor and was motionless for a good few minutes. I thought it had fainted from the stiffling heat! What I didn't know was that the front performer inside the lion was carving the pomelo. Suddenly, the lion got up and threw out the pomelo, now sculpted with some Chinese characters, from its mouth. Sorry pallies, I couldn't take a pic of that. I almost fainted myself amid the oppressive heat, haze, pounding drums and jostling crowd!
The lion dance is accompanied by the beating of drums, cymbals, and gongs that synchronise to the movements and actions.
The haze from the smoking joss sticks/coils and firecrackers
Devotees praying with joss sticks
Giant joss sticks (an integral part of the Chinese New Year celebrations) outside the temple
Joss coils - This type of incense is able to burn for an extended period, from hours to days
I always loved the look of Chinese dragons! They are so bright and colorful!
ReplyDeleteI love these photos--I almost feel as though I was there! :D
ReplyDeleteLove the pix! There's a lot of Chinese New Year celebrations around town... my son's school even had the lion dances!
ReplyDeleteWhao..it must have been really fun watching the dragon dance... the kids haven't seen one this year as yet. HAppy CNY to you!!
ReplyDeletewow great celebrations and shots of the lion dance :) thanks for stopping by...
ReplyDeletehappy Chinese New Year to you and your family!
Ai @ Sakura Haruka
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Very festive. Thanks for linking up.
ReplyDeletehttp://davekellerblog.com/2012/01/wordless-wednesday-forgiven/
Awesome celebrations! You got some wonderful photos!
ReplyDeleteThose are amazing pictues. I really enjoyed looking at them!
ReplyDeleteGreat pictures ! Red is certainly the IN colour!! Gong Xi Fa Cai.
ReplyDeleteRed seems to be the colour of the CNY festival. So bright and vibrant! Love the pics. What alot of smoke! Hot, smokey and noisy...a big celebration.
ReplyDeleteRosemary
Looks like an awesome celebration. We miss living near an asian community and celebrating the Lunar New Year.
ReplyDeleteHow vibrant! Love the colors and the action shots!
ReplyDeleteGorgeous shots, I love Chinese New Year.
ReplyDeleteGung Hay Fat Choy!
Mitch
I love when you tell us about your culture! How cool that the dragon guy is also a fruit carver! Very colorful--very cool. :)
ReplyDeleteHappy Chinese New Year, pally!
This would have been really neat to see in person. Thanks for posting your pictures.
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Great photos. I would love to celebrate a Chinese New Year
ReplyDeleteHow fun. great shots.
ReplyDeleteFantastic pictures! Heather from mbc :)
ReplyDeleteLove all of the colors. It looks like such an amazing celebration. Would love to experience that!
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