China Comes to Thailand - Chinese New Year

I loved spending Chinese New Year in an Asian country! With 80% of the Thai population having deep Chinese roots, you can guess how crazy China Town in Thailand is after hours during the Chinese New Year celebrations! Chinese New Year brings the most exhilarating week in Yaowaraj, which is officially the Chinatown of Bangkok. The entire length of street comes to life with crowds of worshippers, exploding firecrackers, dragon dancers, and families of Chinese descents who gather to partake in the street shows and festivities. It was virtually impossible to get through the crowd of people, so the Bundit ladies and I teamed up with our new traveler friend from the U.S. and found a place to sit and eat directly on the sidewalk to people watch, listen to firecrackers in the distance, and wait until midnight.

All of the Chinese hanging lanterns are lit up making the celebration truly beautiful after dark. Though all of the celebrations were entertaining, the the dragon dances were the best and most festive for us by far! It is believed that the loud beats of the drum and the deafening sounds of the cymbals together with the face of the dragon or lion dancing aggressively can evict bad or evil spirits. Legend has it that on the night of New Year’s Eve, a mythical beast called ‘Nien’ would come to town and ravage people’s homes. To prevent this from happening, the town’s residents put food on their doors, set off firecrackers and, as they discovered later, put on red attires as well as decorate their homes with all things red. The festival of Chinese New Year itself has 3 different purposes: to celebrate the year you are leaving, to gather with family, and to ring in good luck for the upcoming year.

Over a 3 day period, homes are cleaned to make way for good look and superstitious residents give offerings for spiritual good favor. These events spread out from Chinatown to other major temples throughout Bangkok and are even attended by the Thai Princesses who takes part in special ceremonies. We had to wait at a complete standstill in the crowd because of such high security during the time of her arrival. Nonetheless, best Chinese New Year BY FAR!