Chinese Canadian Museum Celebrates First Lunar New Year at Wing Sang Building with Tastings, Craft Workshops and Golden Ticket Fortune Cookie Campaign
Vancouver, BC (January 23, 2024) – The Chinese Canadian Museum is celebrating its first Lunar New Year at their permanent Wing Sang Building location in Vancouver Chinatown with special tastings, craft workshops, lion dances, added guided tours, and Chinese calligraphy demonstrations. To mark the special festival, the museum is also launching a unique Golden Ticket campaign for visitors to win coveted experiences and prizes from museum partners and local attractions.
“Lunar New Year is a special holiday for many in our country, especially those in the Chinese community,” says Dr. Melissa Karmen Lee, CEO of the Chinese Canadian Museum. “It is a time when we gather with families to celebrate traditions and festivities to ring in the new year, and we are so grateful to celebrate our first Lunar New Year here at our new permanent location at the historic Wing Sang Building.”
As part of the Golden Ticket campaign, all visitors through admission from Wednesday, January 24, to Sunday, February 11, will receive a fortune cookie — with a chance to find a golden fortune paper inside. Winners will then be entered into a guaranteed prize draw, which includes a trip for two from Rocky Mountaineer; a roundtrip Helijet flight to Victoria with a stay at the Grand Pacific Hotel; gift cards to Kissa Tanto and Bao Bei; two press box seats to a Vancouver Canucks game; a private group ceramics workshop in Chinatown, and more.
Lunar New Year — also called Spring Festival in some parts of the world — falls on February 10 this year, set to commence the Year of the Wood Dragon. At the museum, family-friendly festivities will run on Saturday, February 10 and Sunday, February 11.
On February 10, master Chinese calligrapher Wai Yin Lau will host calligraphy demonstrations from 11 a.m. to 2 p.m., with visitors able to take home an auspicious Chinese calligraphy greeting to bring in good fortune for the year.
On February 11, Chinese Canadian artist Marlene Yuen, whose mural is featured inside the museum’s introductory gallery, will host special Year of the Wood Dragon printmaking sessions from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. where visitors will be using various relief plate templates to ink, print, and string their own decorative Lunar New Year bunting.
On both days, the museum will offer free tea tastings specially curated from Chinatown tea shops, along with free tastings of snacks and treats (until quantities last). Guided tours of the museum are available every hour from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. on February 10, and from 1 p.m. to 3 p.m. on February 11 — which will be held in English, Cantonese, and Mandarin.
In addition, the museum staff will be marching in the Vancouver Chinatown Lunar New Year parade on Sunday, February 11 with newly commissioned hand-stitched and embroidered Chinese Canadian Museum flags and banners, specially designed by Chinese and Quebecois Canadian graphic design firm Studio Pianpian He and Max Harvey, based in Montreal. Media are also invited to watch a traditional Chinese lion dance performance by the Yin Ping Athletic Association of Vancouver at the Chinese Canadian Museum directly following the parade.
In addition, the museum has commissioned Vancouver graphic artist Melanie Choi to design custom red pocket envelopes, with packs available for sale at their gift kiosk. All visitors who buy an annual pass from January 31 to February 11 will also receive one free red pocket. It is Chinese tradition to give out red envelopes (known as 紅包, hóngbāo) filled with money as a symbol and gesture of good luck and prosperity, and to ward off evil spirits.
According to the Chinese zodiac, the dragon is a powerful and auspicious mythical creature in Chinese culture. Those born in the Year of the Dragon are said to carry its traits representing strength, passion, courage, tenacity, intelligence, creativity, and confidence.
Typically, Lunar New Year is celebrated for 15 days where people follow various customs and traditions, adorn their homes with red decorations, and visit family members, especially paying respects to their elders.
About the Chinese Canadian Museum | chinesecanadianmuseum.ca
The Chinese Canadian Museum Society of British Columbia is an independent, non-profit organization established in March 2020 to create a museum honouring and sharing Chinese Canadian history, contributions, and living heritage. Guided by its mission statement “Connecting to the Chinese Canadian story – addressing inclusion for all”, the Chinese Canadian Museum aspires to provide an invigorating and transformative experience for present and future generations through its exhibitions and educational programming throughout B.C. and Canada.
The first of its kind in Canada, the Chinese Canadian Museum is located in Vancouver Chinatown, with a second temporary location at Fan Tan Alley in Victoria, B.C.