CHINESE NEW YEAR - Get ready for The Year of the Rabbit

GUNG Hey Fat Choy! Happy New Year and a warm welcome to the Year of the Rabbit. 

Last year, hundreds of thousands of people flocked to London’s Chinatown for the biggest Chinese New Year celebration outside of Asia, featuring ornate dragons, daring acrobats and scrumptious food. 
 

This year, organisers have promised to feature contemporary acts including hip-hop musicians – intended to showcase the diversity of the community – alongside the traditional rites of the festival. 

Three Chinese lions will be roaming the West End visiting local businesses, and dignitaries from Chinese businesses will be in attendance. 
Although Chinese New Year’s Day fell on February 3, the London Chinatown Chinese Association traditionally holds the celebrations on the first Sunday after the day itself. 

With Leicester Square currently closed for refurbishments, the festivities will centre around Shaftesbury Avenue – where the “Hong Kong stage” will be – and the main stage in Trafalgar Square.

A packed programme of events will see in the Year of the Rabbit in spectacular style. Dance, pageantry, firecrackers and pyrotechnics will feature.

As with last year, the event is being seen as an important warm-up for the 2012 celebrations, when all eyes will be on the capital because of the Olympics. 

The event is supported by the Mayor of London, Westminster Council, the Chinese Embassy and corporate sponsors including Cathay Pacific and the Bank of China. 

Suzannah Kwok, Vice-President of the London Chinatown Chinese Association (LCCA) – a group that represents businesses in Chinatown but which also organises the celebrations – says the festivities are about boosting trade in a time of austerity as well as catering for the breadth of Chinatown’s population.

She said: “Chinese people in Chinatown are quite diverse. You’ve got the original people who came over from Hong Kong and the New Territories – the old guard. Then you’ve got the British-born like myself, who look Chinese but are really English. And then you’ve got the mainland Chinese, who’ve come over in the last 10 years. And you’ve got the people who are mixed. 

“So you’ve got a very diverse community. Chinatown is for the benefit of the community, but sometimes people don’t understand how diverse the community is.”
 

LCCA president Leslie Ng said: “New Year is one of the most important dates in the Chinese calendar but it’s also an occasion that anyone can get involved with. 

“Our celebrations give everybody the chance to experience Chinese culture and see what Chinatown can offer – all year round. 

“The event has grown from a small local event to welcoming around a quarter of a million people last year. 

“Plans for 2012 are also well under way with Chinese New Year 2012 set to be the first major cultural event of the Olympic year.”

Mayor of London, Boris Johnson, said: “London’s Chinese New Year celebrations are one of the most colourful and magical events in the calendar. I am delighted to be able to support this magnificent day out, which brings people of all ages and from all walks of life onto the streets. 

“So join the throng to celebrate the start of the Year of the Rabbit.”
 

Cllr Steve Summers, Westminster Council’s Cabinet Member for Community Services, said: “The Chinese 

New Year is one of the most vibrant and exciting events of the year, and it is a great occasion for visitors to sample all that Chinatown has to offer, and for the Chinese community to showcase its culture with dancing, food and entertainment. Westminster is proud of its historic association with Chinatown, which is renowned around the world, and plays a key role in ensuring the continuing popularity and success of the West End.”

• For more information see www.londonchinatown.org