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Community Corner

Arcadia Rings in the Dragon New Year

The Arcadia Chinese Association, in conjunction with the Santa Anita Mall, celebrated the Chinese New Year with powerful cultural performances.

A brightly colored lion danced through the crowd. Taekwondo performers dressed in pressed white uniforms wowed the audience by smashing wooden boards with their feet.

The Arcadia Chinese Association and Westfield sponsored an afternoon of celebrations to ring in the Chinese Year of the Dragon. The ACA, an organization active in the community for the past thirty years, is known for its fundraising initiatives and activities in promoting Chinese culture. The Chinese New Year event was held for the first time in the bustling shopping center's outdoor courtyard.

Attendees of the celebration were first welcomed by a pair of lion dancers from the Northern Shaolin Association, who proceeded to move around the quickly forming crowd in sync with the thundering sounds of drums and gongs. Mayor Gary Kovacic gave a set of opening remarks.

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“We’re lucky in Arcadia because we get to celebrate two fantastic new years – first, we have a parade and a football game, second, we have a dragon and red envelopes,” he said.

The performances began with a presentation by the students of the Arcadia Chinese School, who danced nimbly with red handkerchiefs, steered a number of flying yo-yos and recited poetry. Other performance groups included the Chin Woo Quan, a Tae Kwon Do academy, and the Shankara Dance Academy, an Indian Classical Dance studio led by Arti Manek.

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“We are honored to be a part of this Chinese Association program. Me, myself, and my instructors spend a lot of time to show the attitude and discipline that the students have learned,” remarked Alex Wang, Master of Chin Woo Quan, on his academy’s marital arts demonstration.

Besides performances, festival goers enjoyed a number of booths featuring calligraphy, Chinese painting and fortune telling.

“Without a big crowd coming and participating, without the volunteers who came and perfomed, we would not have this event,” said Josephine Louie, President of ACA.

People from all backgrounds appreciated the displays of Chinese culture.

“I’m enjoying what I’m seeing,” said Stella Hew, a resident of Hawaii who attended the event while visiting family in Pasadena. “I was looking forward to seeing the dances and the different costumes — it’s nice to expose the community to that kind of information, it’s different and very interesting.”

The ACA plans to continue the Chinese New Year festivities with two other events: a luncheon for senior citizens Friday and an appearance at the Arcadia City Council meeting Feb. 7. 

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