Calgary welcomes Year of the Dragon with Lunar New Year celebrations

Calgarians by the hundreds gathered across the city from on Feb. 10 to celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year, and welcome in, to much delight, the Year of the Dragon.

Celebrations ranged from locations like Calgary City Hall, Pixel Park, Fort Calgary, but the main attraction of lion and dragon dances along with a multitude of cultural programming took place at the Calgary Chinese Cultural Centre.

Community representatives from Chinatown were joined by dignitaries from the People’s Republic of China, all orders of government including MPs, MLAs, Calgary City Council, and Calgary Police and Calgary Fire Department leaders to provide greetings and partake in traditional ceremonial activities.

“This is the Year of the Dragon, which is a symbol of strength and it will bring good health and bring prosperity,” said Tony Wong, President of the Calgary Chinese Cultural Centre.

“One thing says it all: Everyone is expecting that the birth rate in China is going to spike in the Year of the Dragon. It says how the Chinese love to have a dragon boy or a dragon daughter.”

Traditionally, the Year of the Dragon has been seen as a lucky year for expecting parents, with the Chinese zodiac sign conferring strength and leadership to those born in a dragon year.

Premier Danielle Smith offered her best wishes to attendees for the year, saying that the celebration of the Lunar New Year was a way for people to come together after a long winter.

“Thousands of Albertans and more than two billion people across the world are celebrating Lunar New Year. Although traditions may vary from culture to culture, Lunar New Year is a time to celebrate and to anticipate new opportunities and good fortune in the coming year,” Premier Smith said.

Mayor Jyoti Gondek praised Calgary’s Chinatown community in her message.

“On behalf of my Calgary City Council colleagues, many of whom are here today, Gong Hei Fat Choy, Xing Nian Kuai Le.”

Translated, that means Happy New Year in both Cantonese and Mandarin—the two major dialects of Chinese language spoken in Calgary’s Chinatown.

“The history of the Chinese community in Calgary is one of building a strong foundation. The story of Calgary’s Chinese community is one that reflects so much strength and so much perseverance in challenging times,” said Mayor Gondek.

“Chinatown as we know it today has been in this location since 1910, after the community was displaced twice. But the community did not lose faith, they did not lose hope in what they could achieve together. Despite hardship over time, Chinatown remains home to many incredible people who run family-owned businesses. They volunteer in the community, and they welcome visitors to experience a one-of-a-kind culture.”

David Xui shows off his hand-made, work-in-progress model of the Chinese cultural treasure Along the River During the Qingming Festival during the Lunar New Year celebrations at the Chinese Cultural Centre in Calgary on Saturday, February 10, 2024. ARYN TOOMBS / FOR LIVEWIRE CALGARY

Celebrating millennia of Chinese culture

Consul General of the People’s Republic of China in Calgary Zhou Liying, in her message during the opening ceremonies, said that the Year of the Dragon embodied the more than 5,000 years of history of China.

“Let us work together with the flying dragons to bring up our friendship and collaborations between our two countries, and world peace and prosperity,” she said.

Consul General Zhou was invited alongside Advanced Education Minister Rajan Sawhney to light incense during the opening ceremonies to commemorate the occasion.

Inside the centre, cultural groups like the Zhaoli Dance School, Calgary Oriental Traditional Chinese Dress Qipao Association, Huang Mei Opera, and Peach Plum Art Academy performed alongside vendors and non-profit groups.

David Xui was one of the artists presenting their works during the celebrations.

He was showing his hand-made, work-in-progress model of the Chinese cultural treasure Along the River During the Qingming Festival, which depicts the everyday life of people in Bianjing during that festival.

“It’s kind of hard for people here to take a look at, even though you look at the paintings in the print, it is still hard to get an idea of what they did,” said Xui.

“My doing a 3D model, like a miniature, it’ll make people easier to rapidly look at it and understand.”

The print itself was created sometime in the later part of the 11th century to early part of the 12th century, and has inspired countless imitators and homages, like that of artists Rawry & Pohly who created a mural based on that work in Chinatown.

Xui’s work, which has been a year in the making and is set to take several more months to complete, transposes elements from the print into model form and then presents those scenes alongside vignettes from the print with descriptions of the scene.

He said it was a noble endeavour to help people understand the daily lives of the people from that period in China.

“That I think, that’s beautiful.”