Posted on: Friday, February 4, 2005
Chinatown ready for Rooster
| • | Map: Chinatown parade |
By James Gonser
Advertiser Urban Honolulu Writer
Chinatown's merchants, restaurants and pastry shops are gearing up for the big Chinese New Year's celebration tonight that will include lion dances to chase away evil spirits, traditional foods to help families stick together and red banners everywhere to bring good luck.
Photos by Bruce Asato • The Honolulu Advertiser To celebrate the Year of the Rooster, streets in the historic section of town will be closed while 10 lion dance groups crisscross Chinatown stopping at shops to be fed lisee — the red envelopes with gift money — and chase away evil spirits with exploding firecrackers. There will also be ethnic music, food and craft booths, along with a visit by the Narcissus Queen and her court.
Also tonight will be the popular First Friday Gallery Walk, street entertainers, live theater and concerts in the area, and the first "Friday After 5" craft fair on Fort Street Mall. Thousands of people are expected to attend the events.
"We have the parking, sidewalk improvements and the streets repaved," said Yuen, also a board member of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, which is sponsoring many of the events. "All we need is the people to come down and see it all."
At the Eastern Food Center on King Street, Chinese immigrant Steve Chan has been cooking traditional Chinese food seven days a week for the past 15 years. This is the busiest time of year for the father of three.
Along with the char siu pork and shoyu chicken that hang in his shop window, Chan makes "whole" foods, which include the entire animal from head to toe and are preferred during New Year's celebrations. He said whole pigs, fish and chicken represent togetherness or completeness.
"It is a 2,000-year-old tradition," Chan said. "Generation to generation, it means the whole year will have good luck and health. Food is an important part of that."
Chinese New Year's is celebrated on the first day of the second new moon following the winter solstice, with the corresponding date varying from Jan. 21 to Feb. 20. This year it falls on Wednesday.
Today • 9 a.m. to 11 p.m.: The Chinatown Cultural Plaza New Year Celebration featuring food, fireworks, lion blessings and entertainment. • 5 p.m.: First Friday Gallery Walk including 22 galleries and art-related shops, restaurants and museums in the Downtown/Chinatown district. • 7 p.m.: Lion blessings, in which 10 lion dance troupes will visit Chinatown businesses, starting on King Street; sponsored by the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, the Fort Street Mall Business Improvement District and the Nu'uanu Merchants Association. Chinatown streets will be closed to vehicles. Fort Street's Wilcox Park will host dance groups, cultural demonstrations and craft and food booths. On the mall at Pauahi Street will be a "Friday After 5" craft fair. Tomorrow • 9 a.m. to 11 p.m.: The Chinatown Cultural Plaza New Year Celebration continues. • 10 a.m. to 10 p.m.: The Chinese Chamber of Commerce will continue last week's Night in Chinatown festival on Maunakea Street with entertainment, crafts, T-shirts, clothing, New Year's items and food. • 4 p.m.: A parade, which was rained out last week, begins at the State Capitol grounds on Richards Street and proceeds on Hotel to River Street. Ethnic groups will join the traditional martial-arts and lion dance groups. Wednesday Kung Hee Fat Choy! The Year of the Wood Rooster officially begins.
Ng said gao is is important because it symbolizes families sticking together. "Every family gathers (for New Year's)," she said. "The children come home and we all eat together."
Juni Tong Soong was a refugee when she moved to Hawai'i in 1941. The Hawai'i Kai resident shops in Chinatown once a week and said the New Year's festivities help her remember her family and the life she left behind.
"I like progress, but it is important to remember the traditions," Soong said.
The Sun Chung Grocery on Hotel Street is standing-room-only with shoppers like Soong buying gifts, red banners and firecracker ornaments.
The shop, run for 25 years by sisters Shirley and Annsung Ing, is filled to capacity with items needed for the celebration.
Shirley Ing said the banners carry many messages that customers hope will come true. "You wish people well, to be happy for the whole year," she said. "Some want happiness, health, prosperity, love. Whatever you are looking for in the new year."
Long Doo Benevolent Society is on the second floor above Hotel Street, up a narrow stairway filled with folding chairs and boxes.
Five years ago Yuen served as president of the society and felt it was his duty to bring about some changes, including allowing women to join, remodeling the restroom to accommodate both men and women and banning smoking from the group's hall.
Yuen said the changes were needed to keep the group current with contemporary American society.
"Some of the guys have not forgiven me yet," Yuen said. "That's OK — I did what I felt was right to take it to the next level. When my father came from the old country 90 years ago this society helped him. Now, I'm in a position to give back."
Reach James Gonser at 535-2431 or jgonser@honoluluadvertiser.com.
"Chinese by nature love to celebrate," said Stanford Yuen, who was raised in Chinatown and works to preserve its traditions. "They love to eat and celebrate. There will be something here for everyone. Art, historical groups, tourists, those that love to eat and appreciate culture."
Judy Ng of the Shung Chong Yuein cake shop on Maunakea Street explains the significance of gao, a holiday treat for Chinese New Year's. The steamed cake of glutinous rice topped with a red date, and jung, a leaf-wrapped packet of rice and savory filling, will help herald the Year of the Rooster, which begins Wednesday.
Customers at the Sun Chung Grocery on Hotel Street stand almost shoulder-to-shoulder in the Chinese New Year's rush to buy goods. Annsung Ing, far left, and her sister, Shirley, have run the store for 25 years.
Stanford Yuen grew up in Chinatown and today helps the downtown area prepare for its annual New Year's celebration.
At the Shung Chong Yuein shop on Maunakea Street, Judy Ng makes several types of holiday foods including gao, a steamed cake of glutinous rice topped with a red date, and jung, a leaf-wrapped packet of rice and savory filling, which sell by the score this time of year.
CHINATOWN NEW YEAR'S EVENTS
