January 28, 2006 - This year's Houston Chinese Community
Center's Chinese New Year Festival was a great success.
Thousands of people came to the community center to
celebrate the year of the dog.
Miya Shay of Houston ABC13 News was the
Master of Ceremonies and began the day off with a spirited
introduction. The Chinese New Year festival brought people
of all ages and race for a day of celebration. Some people
even wore traditional Chinese New Year gowns. Kids wore
Chinese "shi pao" on stage when they performed. Houston
Mayor, Bill White, was also in attendance at the opening
ceremonies and made a keynote speech.
Performances were plentiful at the festival.
Performances included Lion Dances, Mitsi School of Dance,
Shaolin Kung Fu, Dragon Dance, Houston Rockets Power
Dancers, and many more. Guest speakers included Mayor Bill
White, City Councilman Gordon Quan, and State Representative
Hubert Vo.
Chinese food
was abundant as well. Over 10 booths served food that included Chinese
lo mein, egg rolls,
bubble tea,
Chinese kabobs, and other ethnic foods as well.
Many company booths were on hand to promote their products
or services. Companies include HEB, Walmart,
ChinatownConnection.com,
Fiesta, NDTV, ChineseBookOnline.com, and World Journal Newspaper. There
were also plenty of booths that were selling Chinese jewelry, paper
lantern, books, and unique Chinese merchandises.
The fun started at 10am in the morning. As early birds
woke up and headed to the festival, the ominous sky was very kind. The
weather was dry and the festival was off to a terrific start. As people
begin to congregate in the performance area, the atmosphere full of joy
and laughter. By noon time, capacity in the auditorium was filled to the
maximum.
Each onstage performance was magnificent and amazing.
Around 2pm, the rain began to come down outside. Most of
the booths were indoors except the food booths who were not as lucky. As
it was pouring outside, people continued to enjoy the festivities and
activities at various booths. From dart throwing at the
ChinatownConnection.com
booth to spin-the-wheel at the Fiesta booth, everyone was entertained.
The Asian Houston Photographic Society had their "China is Beautiful"
exhibit upstairs in the library. Their week long exhibit at the Houston
Chinese Community Center portrays the magnificent magic of photography.
Photographs of China captures the culture, spirit, and meaning of "China
is Beautiful".
Close to the end of the festival, the Shaolin Kung-Fu
Academy put on a spectacular Lion Dance performance. The thunderous
clasps of drums rocked the auditorium and the lion dance was energetic.
The festival was a huge success as people celebrated a new beginning;
the Year of the Dog. Happy Chinese New Years!
