No need to make for the Marais or the Hôtel de Ville on Sunday to celebrate Chinese New Year. Wandering down to rue du Faubourg du Temple for a croissant I bumped into a group of Chinese lion dancers welcoming in the New Year with a traditional bang.
Many of the shops here, usually the ones that sell shoes, cosmetics or fashionable scraps of jersey clothing, are Chinese-owned, and the lion dancers had the duty of bringing them prosperity and good health in the coming year of the Tiger - which this year began on 14 February.
In the bright, cold sunshine it was an unexpected treat to witness the old ceremonies so close to home with none of the jostling crowds who had assembled to watch the big parade in the centre of town.
The drums beat as the two lions approached each shop. Dancing into it, they snaffled the bowls of oranges on offer – bright red and orange are auspicious colours – watched by the happy shop owners and workers. The dance continued outside where a lettuce, its green leaves symbolising money, and a lai see packet, a red envelope containing real money, hung high in each doorway. A red string of firecrackers dangled invitingly too – but real ones are not allowed in Hong Kong any more and I expect they’re not allowed in Paris either. The lions leapt and twirled, eventually snaffling the lettuce and the lai see packet. The lion thus fed, good luck was ensured for another year.
Kung Hey Fat Choi!
