Happy Chinese New Year

Chinese New Year is an important celebration in its country of origin, but for the Chinese community in Southampton it is not always possible to honour the traditional 15-day celebration.

With most of the Chinese community holding down full-time jobs or running businesses and no public holiday in this country to mark the new year, it is difficult to find the time to celebrate it.

Chi Yau, of Yau brothers Chinese supermarket in Northam, Southampton, said: "It really depends on how traditional people are as to if they bother to follow all the customs surrounding Chinese New Year.

"Traditionally Christmas isn't as well celebrated in China, but for the Chinese people in Southampton it is noticed more because of the public holidays that go with it.

"Across Southampton there are probably around 5,000 Chinese people, so with such a small population we don't make Chinese New Year such a noticeable event as it probably is in big cities such as London or Manchester which have far larger Chinese communities.

"For the community in Southampton it is a rather quieter event and time spent with close friends and family.

"On New Year's Eve, we will probably cook a meal for our staff and close family. The quality of the meal is better than normal as more time and care is spent over making it and better quality ingredients are bought.

"It's the same really as when English people cook Christmas dinner. Seafood dishes are more popular at this time of the year, so what we cook will probably involve lots of prawns, crab and so on."

Elly Wong, vice-chairwoman of the Chinese Association of Southampton, said: "As there isn't a public holiday in England for Chinese New Year, we can't go off to see relatives in other parts of the country, so the new year has to be seen in with our immediate family here.

"Red packets containing money are given out to children and any single people, which can be used to buy whatever they want.

"The whole spirit of Chinese New Year is that people want to pay off their debts, clean their house to drive out evil spirits and spend time with their family."

Another thing associated with new year is the lion dance.

This is an important tradition in China. Usually the dance is part of festivities like Chinese New Year, the openings of restaurants and weddings. If well-performed, the lion dance is believed to bring luck and happiness. Although lions are not native to China, they came to this country via the famous Silk Road.

Rulers in what is today Iran and Afghanistan sent lions to Chinese emperors as gifts in order to get the right to trade with Silk Road merchants.

The lion dance dates back to the Han Dynasty (205 BC to AD 220 in China) and during the Tang Dynasty (AD 716-907) it was at its peak. It was particularly performed during religious festivals.

The lion dance was not only introduced in China, but also in Korea and Taiwan, where lions are not native as well. The dances are not exactly the same in these countries, but the symbolism is quite similar. The lion dance is enacted by two dancers. One handles the head, made out of strong but light materials like papier-mch and bamboo, the other plays the body and the tail under a cloth that is attached to the head. The 'animal' is accompanied by three musicians, playing a large drum, cymbals and a gong. A little Buddha teases it with a fan or a giant ball. The head dancer can move the lion's eyes, mouth and ears for expression of moods. The lion dance combines art, history and Kung Fu moves. Normally the performers are Kung Fu practitioners. Every kind of move has a specific musical rhythm. The music follows the moves of the lion: the drum follows the lion, the cymbals and the gong follow the drum player. Quite often people observing the dances think that they are looking at dragons. The main difference between lion dance and dragon dance is that the latter is performed with more people than two. For Chinese people the lion is a holy animal. That is why lions play an important role in Chinese mythology. In China lions and people can be friends. An old Chinese story tells about a lion, lion dances and new year: A long time ago a strange creature appeared in China and horrified and ate men and animals. The fast and fierce creature was called 'nien' (or 'nian'), which sounds like the Chinese word for 'year'. Neither the fox nor the tiger could fight the 'nien' effectively and in despair the people asked the lion for help. The lion shook his mane, rushed towards the creature and wounded it.

The nien hurried away with the tail between its legs. But it vowed to return and take revenge. A year later the nien did return. This time the lion couldn't help the people. He was too busy guarding the emperor's gate. So the villagers decided to do the job themselves. Out of bamboo and cloth they produced an image of the lion. Two men crawled inside it and approached the nien. The 'lion' pranced and roared and the monster fled again. This is the reason why on the eve of the Chinese New Year, lions always dance. They are frightening evil away for yet another year. Elly Wong said: "The lion dance will be performed at a special new year celebration that we are holding at Bellemoor School in Shirley, Southampton on Sunday, February 2.

"We will also be having performances of Chinese folk songs and dances, Chinese music, a martial arts demonstration, and Tai Chi demonstrations.

"It should be a very exciting event and show everyone what Chinese New Year is all about."