Contents 7 Introduction 11 What the Kids Say About Chinese New Year Chapter One What Chinese New Year Is All About 13 Mythic Origins 17 The Not-So-Mythic Story 20 How Chinese New Year Changed 23 When Politics and Holidays Collide 28 Chinese School and the New Year 30 Janie’s Story Chapter Two How Chinese New Year Spread Around the World 33 A Global Community 39 Chinese New Year Festivals Through the Ages 42 Jen’s Story Part One 44 Emma’s Story Chapter Three How Chinese New Year Is Celebrated Today 47 A Public Holiday 49 Family First 52 The Importance of Color 54 It’s Not All About the Money 58 Jen’s Story Part Two 62 Elaine’s Story 4
Chapter Four Chinese New Year Celebrations Across the Globe 65 Around the World 68 A Different Kind of Traveler 70 The New Diversity 74 Stephen’s Story 76 Amanda’s Story 78 A final word from the author 80 Glossary 82 Resources 84 Index 87 Acknowledgments Lion dances are often performed during Chinese New Year but also during other celebrations such as weddings or new business openings aluxum iStock com
A Chinese New Year parade in Victoria BC where many Chinese immigrants to Canada first disembarked in the late 19th and early 20th centuries Robert Amos 6
Introduction When I was a little girl I lived with my parents my grandparents and my four older sisters I grew up in Vancouver British Columbia which is home to a large Chinese Canadian community and one of the oldest Chinatowns in North America My grandfather came to Canada in 1913 at the age of 17 and eventually became a barber For many years he owned the only barbershop in Chinatown He lived in an apartment around the corner from the shop ate his meals at the Hong Kong Café on Pender Street and stopped at the newsstand every morning to buy papers in English and Chinese At that time he was one of a handful of Chinese men who could read both languages and often helped others with reading and writing letters or filling out government forms My grandfather in the 1960s after my grand mother father and mother joined him in Canada This photograph was taken in our first family home in East Vancouver Jen Sookfong Lee
