Having grown up with Malaysian-Chinese immigrant parents in Canada, I can say that some of my earliest and most vivid childhood memories were of Chinese New Year celebrations. In the same way that some kids would fall asleep on Christmas Eve with “visions of sugar-plum fairies dancing in their heads,” when I closed my eyes during the Chinese New Year season, I saw visions of rhythmic, pulsing lion costumes. Underneath a silky robe, a group of highly acrobatic performers would animate these lions, transforming a papier-mâché mask and some light fabric with lots of sequins into a ferocious, flashing beast processing to the clamor of fire crackers, drumbeats and cymbals with fast-twitch, unpredictable movements. The sight was both awe inspiring and terrifying. During my first five years of life, nothing had ever made me feel so alive.
This weekend, I got to revisit this long-forgotten memory at San Francisco’s Chinese New Year Parade. Touted as one of the world’s top 10 parades and located in the largest Chinatown outside of Asia, this year’s parade featured over 100 acts, including high school marching bands, traditional dance and martial-arts troupes, and elaborate corporate-sponsored floats. Experiencing the parade this year as an adult was every bit as enthralling as it was for me when I was a captivated child.
