Margie Maccoll
As drums and cymbals reverberated around the Tewantin Noosa Bowls Club on Sunday, lion dancers welcomed in the New Year in spectacular fashion.
About a dozen members of the Australian Hong Tech Sports Association travelled from Brisbane with their instruments and costumes to perform at the club as they have done for the past few Chinese New Year celebrations.
Head instructor Cuong Luong said the Lion Dance symbolically delivered good fortune and prosperity for the year ahead and people liked the music and colour of the performance.
Cuong said the association of about 30 members trained regularly in the sport that required a combination of stamina, agility and acrobatics and normally competed internationally at the world championships, but all competitions had been cancelled due to Covid.
He said the group hoped to form a national competition this year.
Ming Hew from the bowls club Chinese Restaurant said the bistro had set a menu that was similar to that enjoyed by people in her native Malaysia where the New Year would be celebrated in similar ways to Christmas in Australia.
“We would go to visit people and celebrate with dinners,“ she said.
In 2022 the Year of the Tiger will be celebrated from 1-15 February by more than a billion people across China and South East Asia who will mark the occasion with feasting, parades and visits to family and friends.
People will clean out their houses to empty them of bad spirits, decorate their homes with red for good luck and children will receive gifts of money in red envelopes
