This past Saturday Greg and I attended a Lunar New Year celebration at Westfield Southcenter near Seattle. The weather angels cooperated with the sun streaming in through the skylights and making the traditional Chinese attire a colourful feast for the eyes. It was a super event.

Things got off to a festive start with a captivating lion dance parade performed by members of a local school of martial arts. The head of the lion weighs a heavy 25 pounds, so the people in front switched frequently to prevent overly tired arms. Many people in the audience touched the lion for good luck. 

Next up was a performance by three young ladies from the Seattle Guzheng Studio. The guzheng is a Chinese musical instrument that sounds a little like a mixture of a cello and harp, and is quite soothing. Colourful Chinese opera and folk dances followed. And although we don’t understand Chinese, the attire was beautiful and the performances were fun to watch. 

During one of the breaks we went to check out make-up demonstrations by Shiseido at Macy’s. Local ladies were getting the full treatment and then given the opportunity to have their picture taken by a professional photographer. 

Back at the LNY stage, a group of children dazzled us with their taekwondo demonstration. My word, their high kicks were impressive, and of course, they were adorable. Following that, an equally impressive demonstration of the Chinese yo-yo.

Then an amazing vocal performance by a young singer. She sang in both Chinese and English, and much to the delight of four little girls in the row in front of us, one of the English songs was “Let it Go” from the movie Frozen.  

Last up was a fashion show of women, men and children in traditional Chinese attire. The clothing was rich and very ornate. The hairstyles and make-up of the women was intricate, and they all looked quite beautiful. 

Forum member Aida joined us for the event. We coincidently colour matched our outfits, which were red, black and neutral, (red of course, being the appropriate colour of good luck to wear for Chinese New Year). Aida’s outfit was ‘80s inspired, while mine was ‘70s inspired. It was fun to catch up.

We had returned from Hong Kong only a day before, but the bright colours and wonderful performances soon made us forget our jet lag. It felt like a continuation of our travels and was the perfect way to return to Seattle.