Lai Kwan Yee
“Of all the traditions of the Lunar New Year, I most like the way many people, especially children, dress in traditional Chinese costumes. Many of these outfits are very colorful.”
Donald Gasper who was born in the United Kingdom and moved to Hong Kong 19 years ago, talks with our reporters via email about Chinese New Year.
First of all, he prefers to speak of the “Lunar New Year” instead of “Chinese New Year” as it is something that is “not uniquely Chinese”. There are similar festivals in Korea, Mongolia and Vietnam. Also, this name makes clear the difference from the Solar New Year, or Western Calendar which starts on January 1st.
He usually spends the Lunar New Year at home in Hong Kong, only once went to the New Year’s Eve Flower Market in Victoria Park. “It was interesting to see but I found it too crowded.”
He says that most British people have no special feeling about the Lunar New Year. The celebrations in London’s Chinatown are popular but often crowded and very noisy – with earsplitting fire cracker detonations.
“This is not everybody’s cup of tea. People in England know virtually nothing about the traditions of the Lunar New Year, unless they live in the larger cities such as London or Manchester, where there are big Chinese communities,” He notes.
However he thinks that everybody from Britain who lives in Hong Kong is aware of the festival and most feel that the celebrations add color to life here.
“It is also inconvenient that most restaurants and shops are closed, though this seems to be less of a problem, with some temporary stalls opening,” he adds.
Donald likes the atmosphere of the festival, for instance, hearing the special New Year’s music and tasting the special foods.
“However, as it is primarily a family celebration, and we are not part of a Chinese family, the festival does not mean as much to me and other foreigners living in Hong Kong. I cannot say that I have such strong feelings about the festival,” he concludes.
Yet he likes Dumplings (‘jiaozi’ in Chinesea) among New Year’s foods. “Since these remind me of spring festivals in northern China and are supposed to resemble silver ingots! I quite like ’nian gao’ (rice cake) too,” he notes.
