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Lion dancers spread luck as Year of the Monkey begins
Chinese Association of Saipan lion dancers enter the lobby of the TSL Plaza in Garapan. The Chinese community in the CNMI welcomed the start of the Lunar New Year, the Year of the Fire Monkey, yesterday. (Jon Perez)
The sound of cymbals, drums, and a gong greeted the early morning crowd at the TSL Plaza in Garapan, signaling the start of the Chinese traditional lion dance. The Chinese Association of Saipan, CNMI had been performing the lion dance on Saipan for 25 years now.
The Chinese community on Saipan began the celebration of the Lunar New Year, which is also known as the Spring Festival, yesterday with the traditional lion dance. The Chinese are celebrating the Year of the Monkey, the ninth in their zodiac cycle of 12 animals with fire as the element.
Lion dancers from CAS visited more than 30 businesses and other establishments to perform and at the same time, according to their beliefs and traditions, ward off evil spirits and spread good luck.
The lion—with the dancers inside—acted eating the head of cabbage, whole carrots, and a red envelope or lai see that contains money hanging at the door. The dancers were actually using their hands to pluck the cabbage, rip it to pieces, and spread it around.
“The cabbage, which is color green is the same color of the U.S. money, the dollar. It symbolizes money and wealth,” said CAS vice president Ana Chan.
“The red envelope, which has money, attracts the lion so what they are doing is spreading it around and throwing it to people as if to receive the money and good luck,” added CAS director for education Rose Chan, also a former president of the Chinese association.
Ping Wang, one of the performers of the CAS lion dancers, said that he had already played every part in their group, from being a musician to a dancer. Two people wear the lion costume that is made of bright-colored fabrics and ornaments, and they dance to the beat of the drum, gong, and cymbals.
“It was traditional for the kids in our village to learn the lion dance. I started very young, at around 6 or 7 years old. We practice everyday,” said Guangdong native Wang, who has been performing for more than 15 years.
From the TSL Plaza—where they visited the Tan Holdings executive offices, legal department, and FHP Take Care—the lion dancers also visited Saipan Computer Services, J.P. Center, TransAmerica, Saipan Apparel, POI Aviation, Hannam Market, NIC Health/9922, Hyatt Regency Saipan, QQ Car Rental, Canton Restaurant, Majesty Restaurant, Kanoa Resort, Century Tours and Saipan Adventure (Kanoa), IShop Kanoa, DFS Kanoa, Subway, IT&E, CTSI, D&Q, Cosmos, Let’s Go, Century Hotel, Dollar Days, Micro Beach Hotel, Fiesta Resort & Spa, IShop (Fiesta), Saipan Adventure (Fiesta), I Love Saipan (Paseo de Marianas), Chamorro House, Sun Leader Market, Hyatt Regency Saipan, I Love Saipan, Club C, DFS Saipan Limited, Louis Vuitton, Best Sunshine Live, and the Saipan World Resort.
The group also performed last Sunday night at the Tinian Dynasty & Casino where fireworks were also lit. They arrived at 3am on Saipan and started their program on the island at 8:30am.
