Houston Chinese New Year Festival

January 28, 2006 - This year's Houston Chinese Community Center's Chinese New Year Festival was a great success. Thousands of people came to the community center to celebrate the year of the dog.

Miya Shay of Houston ABC13 News was the Master of Ceremonies and began the day off with a spirited introduction. The Chinese New Year festival brought people of all ages and race for a day of celebration. Some people even wore traditional Chinese New Year gowns. Kids wore Chinese "shi pao" on stage when they performed. Houston Mayor, Bill White, was also in attendance at the opening ceremonies and made a keynote speech.
Performances were plentiful at the festival. Performances included Lion Dances, Mitsi School of Dance, Shaolin Kung Fu, Dragon Dance, Houston Rockets Power Dancers, and many more. Guest speakers included Mayor Bill White, City Councilman Gordon Quan, and State Representative Hubert Vo.

Chinese food was abundant as well. Over 10 booths served food that included Chinese lo mein, egg rolls, bubble tea, Chinese kabobs, and other ethnic foods as well.

Many company booths were on hand to promote their products or services. Companies include HEB, Walmart, Houston Chinatown ChinatownConnection.com, Fiesta, NDTV, ChineseBookOnline.com, and World Journal Newspaper. There were also plenty of booths that were selling Chinese jewelry, paper lantern, books, and unique Chinese merchandises.

The fun started at 10am in the morning. As early birds woke up and headed to the festival, the ominous sky was very kind. The weather was dry and the festival was off to a terrific start. As people begin to congregate in the performance area, the atmosphere full of joy and laughter. By noon time, capacity in the auditorium was filled to the maximum. Each onstage performance was magnificent and amazing.
Around 2pm, the rain began to come down outside. Most of the booths were indoors except the food booths who were not as lucky. As it was pouring outside, people continued to enjoy the festivities and activities at various booths. From dart throwing at the Houston Chinatown ChinatownConnection.com booth to spin-the-wheel at the Fiesta booth, everyone was entertained. The Asian Houston Photographic Society had their "China is Beautiful" exhibit upstairs in the library. Their week long exhibit at the Houston Chinese Community Center portrays the magnificent magic of photography. Photographs of China captures the culture, spirit, and meaning of "China is Beautiful".
Close to the end of the festival, the Shaolin Kung-Fu Academy put on a spectacular Lion Dance performance. The thunderous clasps of drums rocked the auditorium and the lion dance was energetic. The festival was a huge success as people celebrated a new beginning; the Year of the Dog. Happy Chinese New Years!