Spring Festival in Liverpool
— — How Chinese spend their spring Festival
Spring Festival is coming to Liverpool. And one of the oldest immigrant communities is preparing to take a central role. The Wah Sing Chinese Community will perform ethnic music as part of the traditional Shaoxing Opera for 2018 Spring Festival.
According to John Sung who is the vice president of Wah Sing Chinese Community, every year, Liverpool’s council will take part in Spring Festival celebrations. Wah Sing has been supporting members of the Chinese community since the 1960s. Now Spring Festival is not only just for the Chinese; it also brings lots of fun to local people.
However, across nearly a half of earth, in a totally different place, here in Liverpool, the Chinese will have a quite different feeling to Chinese New Year.
John as the second-generation Hong Kong immigration spent 50 years in Liverpool, as usual, every year he will organized community rehearse the show like Chinese traditional opera and dragon dance.
“Chinese New Year and Chinese National Day are the very important days for Chinese in foreign country. Even we are not live in our native country, but we couldn’t forget that we are Chinese, and these festivals can unit us together.” John said.
Spring festival might be very busy for Estelle Liu, who is a Chinese overseas student in Liverpool university stay here for four years. She had a part-time job in local Chinese grocery store.
“Every Spring Festival is the busiest time for store. and I spent these days in very busy work. But in the first mouth of the lunar year, our store will come out and cook dumplings for the people. When we saw the local people also like Chinese food like us and sent new year’s wishes to us, I feel just like home and very warm,” said Estelle Liu.
Same as Estelle Liu, Spring Festival is also not a relaxing day for Kathy Xu, who is working at Housing agency at China Town. Kathy already live in Liverpool for ten years, and she get married with local people.
“I’m very miss the atmosphere of Chinese New Year in my hometown Guangzhou. Now in my British family, I’m the only Chinese, and on that day, I still have to work, so it’s a little bit lonely and sadness for me,
“But I still can see and join the celebrations on Chinatown, after work our family will have big dinner in my favorite Chinese restaurant. At first it’s difficult to fit in a totally different culture, but now I feel more comfortable to my life in Liverpool.” Said miss Xu.
Spring Festival is not only the Chinese festival in Liverpool. As the first and biggest Chinese Community in Europe, every year, the celebrations on Chinatown will attracts lots of foreign people from all over the world to take part and to learn and feel Chinese traditional culture.
If you want to feel the Chinese New Year in Liverpool, please check the official site below and get the latest celebrations information below.
http://www.liverpoolchinatown.co.uk
Time: 18 February, 2018 11:00 to 16:00
Place: Chinatown and Great George Street etc.
