Lion Dancing - Generations Magazine - February-March 2013Chinese Zodiac relates each Chinese calendar year to an animal based on a 12-year cycle. Those born in 1905, 1917, 1929, 1941, 1953, 1965, 1977, 1989, 2001, and 2013 are Snake people. February 10, 2013 (solar calendar) is the Lunar Year 4711 celebration that welcomes the Year of the Snake, ending on January 30, 2014.

Chinatown is a key area for Chinese New Year festivities from the few weeks leading up to it through the few weeks following it. That is where local Chinese congregate year after year to shop for the necessary new year items for their home and to soak in the festive atmosphere.

One can expect to see the performance of the Chinese lion (not a dragon) at many of the new year celebrations. In Hawai‘i, the southern or Cantonese lion, mascot of the Chinese martial arts organizations, is performed by two people: one in the head and the other person in the tail. The lion is a costume made of paper-mache and cloth. Its body is approximately 6’ to 12’ in length.

People born in the year of the Snake, are deemed to have characteristics of being wise, charming, studious, aloof and reserved. Elegant and soft spoken, they enjoy recreational activities and good company. They are romantic and deep thinkers and are considered lucky with money and business ventures. Although refined, they can be very jealous. And at their own pace, they anxiously seek what they want.


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