Chinese visit temples, fairs to ring in Year of the Monkey

Fireworks burst over the NY skyline, the Empire State Building lit in red and gold, in honor of the Chinese Lunar New Year, as seen from Weehawken, N.J., February 6, 2016.

Another Chinese New Year, once again, had come and not only the Chinese communities but also other countries, including United Kingdom and other parts of the world joined the celebration.

The newly formed Norwich Chinese Community Centre (NCCC) are running a number of events with the culmination being a lantern festival and celebration performance of Chinese dance and music at the Merge restaurant on Dereham Road in Norwich on February 19.

Meng Su was waiting to light incense at the Tibetan Buddhist Lama Temple in central Beijing, a popular tradition that is meant to attract good luck.

A man plays an intricate instrument at a Lunar New Year’s celebration at Huangsi Temple in Shenyang, Liaoning province, China. Chinese months emulate the lunar calendar with each month beginning on the new moon.

In King’s Lynn, the West Norfolk and District Chinese Association hosted an annual party to mark the start of Chinese New Year last weekend.

A Chinese entertainer dressed in costume as the Monkey King performs to celebrate the upcoming Chinese Lunar New Year in Nanjing, China, Feb. 4, 2016.

Traditional New Year celebrations saw people visiting the graves of deceased family members to pay respect to their loved ones, letting off firecrackers and burning joss paper.

Celebrations included traditional fancy dress, martial arts displays, dragon dancing, lion dancing, decorations and more. But in addition to the “year animal” there are also five elements to consider: wood, fire, earth, metal, water.

George Kwan, 50, leader of the family dance troupe, has been performing traditional Lion dances for 35 years.

Colorful lion dances, shadow puppets and, of course, the making of lanterns are tied to the holiday.

Most of those trips are in short distance and for tourism as increasingly affluent Chinese tend to spend their Spring Festival holiday in traveling to different places with families.

Minji Chang, executive director of Kollaboration, says some people are creating their own new traditions in order to augment old beliefs surrounding the Chinese New Year. Plastic monkeys are adorning shopping centers and office buildings, and government departments have been giving out toy monkeys. For those born in the year of the monkey it is said that they will best suit careers in accountancy, science and engineering.