The Philippines is home to an important Filipino-Chinese population. So important, in fact, that its capital city is home to the world’s oldest Chinatown. So how do people there celebrate the Chinese New Year?
The festivities for the Chinese New Year are on. And here in Manila’s Chinatown, both the local Chinese community and Filipinos are excited to welcome the year of the water snake. Starting with this grand parade that will cover the entire stretch of Chinatown’s main street… and ending at the newest and only upscale mall in this area, the Lucky Chinatown Mall.
From there, the festivities continue with a full day of activities lined up; there’s going to be an exhibit that will feature Chinese culture and arts… like calligraphy, for example, Chinese lanterns, Chinese chess, and fan painting. There’s also going to be lots of food; authentic Chinese food that is that are very popular here in the Philippines.
In fact, you know, there’s a lot of Chinese influence here; in Filipino food, in their language, their beliefs and traditions even. One very interesting bit of trivia here for you; Manila’s Chinatown is actually the oldest Chinatown in the world. It’s been here since the 1590’s and so Chinese people have lived here for at least five centuries. And so there is a great deal of mutual respect between the local Chinese and Filipinos and because of that, Chinese New Year is actually an official non-working holiday here, except that this year, it falls on a Sunday.
Nevertheless, it’s one of the most anticipated events of the year. People here absolutely love the festive mood and the traditions that surround the Spring Festival. Feng shui, lucky charms, dragon dances and fireworks are all very popular here at this time of the year. These things of course are believed to bring good fortune and obviously that’s what people not just here but everywhere are hoping for this new year.
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