It’s the year of the rat! I feel privileged to witness the Chinese New Year in Penang, where the majority of the population is Chinese.
Legend has it that a monster was haunting a village, but it was afraid of red, and loud sounds: so still today on Chinese New Year, decorations and clothing are red, and you hear firecrackers all over the city.
The lion dance is surreal: two lions (two people for each costume) go around markets or houses taking people’s donations of money in red envelopes, oranges, and lettuce.
They then perform the lion dance, eat the orange or lettuce and spit them back at the audience or the owner of the house, for good luck. At the end, the lions reveal a scroll with heaven-sent messages and good wishes (at a house they give it to the owner).
Such a happy, energetic, and artistic tradition to start the new lunar year, I’m a fan!
Sono la fondatrice de La Tela, creatrice del podcast Educare con calma e dal 2019 viaggio a tempo pieno con la mia famiglia Alex, Oliver ed Emily. Mi ritengo una visionaria pessimista: so come voglio cambiare l’educazione e che genitore ho scelto di essere, ma la maggior parte dei giorni mi sembra di scalare pareti di vetro. Ma forse proprio per questo so come aiutarti quando mi scrivi: perché ci passo anche io per quel disagio e ti dico le verità scomode con gentilezza e senza giudizio.
