The best part about the Chinese New Year is the lion dance. I have seen many of them, among which only a few were performed on the peg array which consists of pegs up to 3 metres at the highest point.
There is usually two lions dancing on the pegs in a mixed acrobatic and Kung Fu style. They dance and race for a overhanging lettuce, known as “Choi Tseng” (pluck the green).
The Chinese character of Tseng also denotes Spring, the east and young. The lion plucking the lettuce is taken figuratively as an auspicious sign for the new year. In a similar manner, a single lion followed by a band of Chinese drum players may dance and shower the lettuce pieces it finished munching about the shops. The lion players are normally given red packets as a token of thanks.
Just in case you wonder how I managed to take photos of the dancing lion: Well, it was the first time since I got the GX200 last year that I missed my Dynax 7 SLR with a lightning focusing speed, a true shutter modenad a lens featuring a manual zoom ring . The GX200 is not really the candidate for taking fast moving action in a dimmer environment. I wonder if many of the compacts are. I watched the real lion dance. Then I visited the exhibition area to take photos of these stationary lions, which, I am glad to say, were life-size real lion costumes.
Post note: There are some photos of lion dance on peg array here and here, which I mentioned but had not a chance to photograph for the post.
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