Now that Christmas has past, New Year's Eve is over and Boxing Day is done, Australia moves onto the Chinese New Year/Lunar New Year. The celebration here in AU is the biggest outside of Asia. I am so excited! Already signs of the new year celebration are popping up throughout the city. The first to be seen are the street flags (see below) in the city and beautiful red lanterns hanging in various locations. The shops in Chinatown are now displaying every thing a household needs to celebrate the new year as well. 
I walked through Chinatown today when I had some time to myself. I wanted to get a closer look at what the shopkeepers were selling. They had everything from the red lai-see (lucky money) envelopes, paper lanterns galore, beautiful hanging dragons and just about anything else you can think of. There was so much and I had so many questions, but the shopkeeper did not speak much English so I had to fend for myself. I got a few things for the boys for the new year, but think I will do a bit of research and go back again in a week or so. 
Most of the events surrounding the holiday, begin the third week of January. The festival itself is 15 days long so a lot goes on during that time period. There is lion dancing in Chinatown, red ribbon dancing in Darling Quarter, Dragon Boat races in Cockle Bay Wharf and what sounds like the highlight, the Twilight Parade beginning at Town Hall and ending in Chinatown. I have all these events written on my calendar so we are sure not to miss a single one. Cooper is already asking questions about "the chinese" as he calls it. We will work on the "lingo" a bit over the next few weeks. :) I am kicking myself for leaving all my wonderful CNY children's books back in Tacoma. I guess we will check out the local library and see what we can find there. CNY is such an exciting and colourful time of year. I am really looking forward to all the events the city has planned and to sharing it with the boys.
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