Enter the Dragon

Spring festival or the New Year is about to be welcomed by Chinese all over the world with the largest human exodus expected in China. Food and fruits with auspicious-sounding names are a necessity for Chinese New Year.  Dunkin Donuts are selling CNY-themed donuts which are pineapple-shaped (Ong Lai) and those with red-toppings layered with a gold coin ingot (Red Fortune). These can be viewed HERE. Whilst I was out grocery shopping to stock up for the coming Year of the Dragon, I came across a colourful packaging of a Yee Sang set which featured a pair of swallows:-Some of the interesting websites highlighting the Year of the Dragon include Genting Malaysia's website below:-Legoland Malaysia boasts a dragon built entirely out of plastic bricks, as displayed via their website below:-Watsons Malaysia is having a Chinese New Year promotions contest at their website HERE. Fengshui guru Datuk Joey Yap gave some tips on how to prepare for the Year of the Rabbit. As the rabbit hops away to give way to the dragon, his predictions for the 12 Zodiac animals can be viewed below:-

The Animal Signs in 2024 – Your Guide to the Wood Dragon Year [Joey Yap]

Two competing alcoholic beverage companies have a lovely website layout and a unique play on the characters HEI which means joyful celebrations in Cantonese, to market their products for the Year of the Dragon (as below). Internet users will need to verify their year of birth before entering the websites and where disclaimers are displayed reminding the user to be above drinking age in Malaysia and a non-Muslim before browsing the websites. 

I stumbled across a website from the Royal Museums Greenwich where the Newham Chinese Association explained how Chinese New Year is celebrated by Chinese communities outside of the UK, what decorations are made, what stories & myths are told, what is considered bad luck, why do people have lion and dragon dances, what things bring good luck, what food do people eat and regional differences during CNY celebrations from Northern to Southern China. There's a traditional lion dance performance in the Museum which was featured in this website.