The Year of the Rat kicks off today -- not with a squeak but with a mighty cross-cultural roar.
Chinese New Year, the most important holiday on the Chinese lunar calendar, has become a reason for many Canadians, including those of non-Chinese heritage, to eat, drink and make merry.
"It's becoming, in that great way, a Canadian tradition," said Todd Wong, a fifth-generation Chinese-Canadian. "It's for all cultures to celebrate, not just Chinese or Asians.", recently hosted Gung Haggis Fat Choy, an annual salute to Chinese New Year and Robbie Burns Day, where bagpipes serenaded banquet diners munching on hybrid delicacies such as a haggis lettuce wrap.
He said Chinese New Year's popularity is due not only to the large number of Chinese immigrants but the interracial friendships and marriages that have introduced the family-oriented holiday to mainstream Canadians.
"There's a heck of a lot of white people out there learning about Chinese New Year because their grandkids are half-Chinese," said Wong, whose maternal cousins all married non-Chinese.
Even traditional offerings have taken on a cross-cultural flavour. The annual Chinese New Year parade, expected to draw more than 600,000 spectators from across Metro Vancouver, is an example of multiculturalism at work.
More than 2,000 participants, including bhangra dancers, marching bands, bagpipers, traditional dragon- and lion-dance teams and a unicorn-dance team, will make their way on foot and floats through Chinatown starting at the Millennium Gate at noon on Sunday.
"At the parade, you see multiculturalism when the fabric of communities in Vancouver come together," said Kenneth Tung, head of Success, one of the event's organizers.
"It's a multicultural parade in a culture-specific setting," adds Wong, who says he'll be attending the festivities.
Other celebrations:
- Thursday: The Vancouver Police Department's lion-dance team performs at Vancouver City Hall at noon.
- Thursday night: Kilts Night at Doolin's Irish Pub. Free pint of Guinness if you wear a kilt.
- Friday through Sunday: Chinese New Year celebration at International Village, 88 West Pender St.
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