Lunar New Year Celebration January 25, 2009

Lunar New Year Celebration & Other Asian Traditions, Sunday, Jan 25, 12–5 pm—and welcome the Year of the Ox!

In its ninth annual Lunar New Year celebration, the Oakland Museum of California presents an afternoon of family activities, lion and dragon dancing, mochi pounding and Taiko with Kagami Kai, and the Red Panda Chinese Acrobats. Players from China, Singapore, and the Tri-Valley Table Tennis Club will demonstrate their Ping Pong prowess.

Other performances include a cross-cultural set by Korean and Vietnamese musicians, and Chinese, Balinese, and Thai dance. Visitors can watch Chinese paper cutting and ink painting, Mien craftmaking, learn how to wear a kimono, or take a workshop on bamboo flutes.

Other highlights: Chinese herbal medicine and acupuncture, Thai cooking demos, Lao textiles, and martial arts. Designer and author Cindy Ng will lead “Girligami” projects and sign her books, 12 to 5 p.m.

The program opens at 12:30 with lion and dragon dances, and closes at 4:30 with a ceremony and New Year’s parade in the museum gardens (weather permitting), with Leung’s White Crane Dragon Dance Team. All activities included with museum admission.

The 2009 Lunar New Year officially begins January 26, and is marked with special decorations, dance, and foods symbolic of long life, fertility, and prosperity. The 12-year animal zodiac calendar is part of most Asian cultures. People born under the influence of the Ox or Buffalo achieve prosperity through fortitude and hard work. The typical Ox is a stable, tolerant person.

The Lunar New Year program is presented with DEAF Media and the museum’s Asian Pacific Advisory Council.

Official Website: http://www.museumca.org