The Chinese New Year is the longest and most significant festival in the Chinese calendar. It marks the end of the winter and an opportunity to sweep away any bad luck from the previous year, and welcome in good luck.
The Year of the Dragon is a particularly auspicious year and many Chinese people have made particular efforts to have babies born this year. According to the BBC, the Hong Kong authorities are expecting a 5% increase in the number of births compared with last year, and some say possibly even 10%.
My card comes from Taiwan.
I'm Dragon. And Lion. 08.08.1964. :))
ReplyDeleteApparently I'm a pig. I'm not sure how happy I am about that. :)
DeleteThere are dragons and then there are Chinese Dragons, which always seem fierce and unfriendly. Nice postcard though. Here in Lanzarote we have a large Chinese population, many of whom have opened up shops selling, well all the usual’Made in China’ stuff.
ReplyDeleteWith the exception of Puff the Magic Dragon, I've never really thought of dragons as being anything else but fierce. There was the science fiction series by Anne McCaffrey but even there the dragons were fire breathing as far as I remember.
DeleteI had no idea there was a large Chinese population in Lanzarote.
That's some dragon. Did you know the dragon is the only mythological creature used in the Chinese zodiac? And, their calendar is a lunar calendar? I learn something new every day.
ReplyDeleteLovely dragon.
This is one time I really miss being at home. San Francisco's Chinese New Year's parade is rated one of the top ten parades in the world!
ReplyDeleteStill loving India...off to Jaipur the 29th...attend a wedding reception on the 30th...and a huge forensic conference is taking place the week of Feb 1...I am not able to afford to attend it but will share a room with my most esteemed colleague who is coming!
My mum is a dragon! I tried convince her that she was turning 12 again this year but she didn't seem convinced. I love everything to do with Chinese dragons.
ReplyDeleteThat is an absolutely fabulous dragon! Not all dragons are fierce - see the New Year Dragon I got from Japan here. She is pink and very tame ^_~
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