Chinese New Year Celebration (Malaysia vs London)

Chinese New Year 2010 is the year of the Tiger. This year, the Chinese Lunar Year Festival starts from 14th of February which is also Valentine’s Day. Chinese New Year is celebrated for about fifteen days which end with Chap Goh Meh on the last day. It is regarded as the most important festival for all the Chinese folk, living in this Malaysia. Though New Year is celebrated with great pomp and glory in Southeast Asian country, it is also a mega event of Chinese New Year celebration in London.

In the days, preceding the Chinese New Year, Families across Malaysia clean the house and then decorates the house with red lanterns. Malaysians also buy new clothes and prepare a lot of food for the Chinese New Year celebrations. On the Chinese New Year eve, members of a family come from far flung places to hold reunion dinners. In London, lots of Chinese people stay at there and though they cannot manage to visit their native place, they celebrate in their own style right at London.

During Chinese New Year Chinese, Malaysian families invite their relatives and friends over to their homes. We give guests gifts of mandarin oranges or kam, which symbolises gold or wealth. Malaysians give out ang-paus to the old people and the kids. Malaysians also practice open houses for their relatives and friends, who belong to different ethnic races. As for people celebrating Chinese New Year in London, early in the morning, people are greeted at Chinatown with food stalls and exhibitions. The 65 restaurants become lively and the Chinese dancers perform in them and food is served on first come first serve basis.
Among the major attractions of the Chinese New Year celebration in Malaysia and London are firecrackers and lion dances. In London, Chinese New Year is celebrated at city center with a series of events. Chinese New Year celebration in London starts with a parade. There are also martial art demonstrations, which are ancient way of protecting oneself. Chinese New Year celebration in London in Trafalgar Square is very lively with Western and Chinese style opera. There are also Peking and Cantonese Opera for the entertainment of the people. The celebrations get bigger and better every year and London provides a wonderful stage on which to celebrate the cultural wealth of the city's Chinese community.