24 January 2012

Gong Xi Fa Cai!

Happy Chinese New Year!  Technically I'm a day late, I believe, but it is still Chinese New Year holidays here, so I'm sure it still counts.

KL has been, on the whole, very quiet the past four days.  Most people have gone home to be with their families for this festive season, or they have taken advantage of the extra days off work to go on holiday.  Which, for those of us still here, is great, because we can drive around and park without any jams or long waits!

Today, we went to a city centre hotel, the Concorde, to see a Chinese Lion Dance display.  Despite living in Hong Kong for three years, I have never seen such an acrobatic display before.  These lions were jumping up and down poles, and stretching skywards as the loud drums and cymbals crashed out a rhythm.  Pretty impressive, given that there were two men in each lion, sometimes one standing on the other's shoulders as they danced.  My ears are still ringing a bit - standing next to the cymbalists was not the best idea!  Here are just a few of the dozens of photos I took.