Chinese New Year Parade in Wellington, NZ

The Chinese are a visible minority in New Zealand and they celebrated their New Year with week long events in Wellington. It is the Year of the Ox and it was welcomed with firecrackers to ward of evil spirits, stage programmes, a fashion show, a bustling Asian Market, a parade and plenty of local and international entertainment.

Sunday, February 8, was scheduled with many events such as the Asian Market where people to could taste Chinese cuisine and shop for other things. The Parade in the afternoon ended with a entertainment programme for a couple of hours.

I was able to attend only the Parade and its colorful display was breathtaking with many floats and dances. The photographs speak for themselves. It was my first experience of the dragon dance and the lion dance. There were even lion cubs.

The first thing to come after the banner was the Ox, symbolizing the Year of the Ox, made of tin. It was followed by dignitaries in cars and other floats. The road was packed with spectators who had come with their families to see the parade. The parade started at Courtney Place and ended at Frank Kitts Park where there was stage built for performances later on.

Some of the interesting things that were in the parade were the Chinese stick puppets (see photo), the dragon dance, a cycle rickshaw, a lion who bent his head for a pat, the Chinese Operatic Society float, live musicians with drums and cymbals and teenagers displaying their martial arts skills. The parade walked from the centre of the city, along the waterfront to the Frank Kitts Park. Many people turned out to enjoy the display and the performances. It was warm, sunny day which is something rare in Wellington.

Dragons are believed to bring good luck to people, as is reflected in their qualities such as power, dignity, fertility, wisdom and auspiciousness. In this dance, a team of people carry the body of the dragon on poles mimicking the undulating reptilian movements.

The dragon is a river spirit with a physical form which is a combination of many animals, including the horns of a stag, ears of a bull, eyes of a rabbit, claws of a tiger and the scales of a fish, all on a long serpent's body. The Dragon dance symbolizes the bringing of good luck and prosperity in the year to come for all the human beings on earth.

The Chinese Lion Dance usually consists of two people where as Dragon Dance features a team of around ten or more dancers. The lion dance may have originated in India or China. The lion is traditionally regarded as a guardian creature and is performed in ceremonies ward off evil spirits and bring in good luck and prosperity.

There are different variations of the lion dance in other Asian cultures including mainland China, Taiwan, Hong Kong, Macau, Japan, Okinawa, Korea, Vietnam, Malaysia, Sydney, and Singapore, with each region possessing their own styles. It was very interesting to see it performed in New Zealand especially the 'baby' lion dancers performed by 6-10 year olds.

The Chinese came to New Zealand 130 years ago in the days of the Otago gold rush. Since then, this community has flourished and established itself successfully in its country of adoption.

The earliest Chinese were considered to be pioneers, the brave ones who took the step of emigrating from their homeland to settle in this far-off country in the South Pacific. In the beginning of the twentieth century the Chinese community consisted mostly bachelor workers which later transformed into a tightly knit community of families with generally very hard-working and high-achieving children in the 1960s and 1970s.

However, by the 1980s the Chinese population had doubled when the government decided to deregulate the country's economy and opened its doors to quality migrants from all over the world. This changed the small, close-knit and largely homogeneous ethnic community into a heterogeneous one. While the local Chinese mostly speak English, the new immigrants speak different dialects of Chinese. They are mostly sophisticated people from Asia's mega-cities, used to a fast life, a quick turnover, and quick decisions. They came from different regions in Asia: Taiwan, Hong Kong, Malaysia, Singapore, Indonesia, Vietnam and the majority of them are ethnic Chinese.

Thus there has been a reawakening of cultural pride in things Chinese, the reassurance and comfort of being able to celebrate Chinese festivals in style with proper traditional style and the enjoyment of having a wider choice of Chinese delicacies such as tofu, dim-sims, oyster sauce, different kinds of noodles and rice.

Terracotta Warriors of Qin Exhibition
Another aspect of Chinese culture on display is the exhibition held from January to April 2009 of the Terracotta Warriors. It features a display of more than 60 of the warriors. The exhibition recreates the 'eighth wonder of the world' - an accidental discovery unearthed in the 1970s which revealed 8000 detailed, life-size figures lined up in battle formation, guarding the tomb of China's First Emperor.

NZCT Summer City, Wellington 2009
The celebrations of the Chinese New Year are part of Wellington's popular and growing festival of summer fun. Many events are planned from New Year's Eve to the end of March. The next big event is the Cuba St. Carnival on 21 February. The Summer City programmes are funded by NZ Community Trust (NZCT) with also different sponsors for the events.

As the Mayor of Wellington says: 'Whether you're relaxing in the crowd or taking part, enjoy Summer City and all it has to offer. And remember to keep it green - come to events by public transport, cycle or on foot, and recycle what you can.'

References:
1. Dragons on the Long White Cloud - The Making of Chinese New Zealanders by Manying Ip, 1996.
2. Wikipedia