Happy New Year!

Happy Chinese New Year or Happy Lunar New Year!  Whatever you want to call it good-bye last year.  1012 is the year of the Black Water Dragon and generally considered favorable. While in China we were instructed that those who are born in the year of the Dragon should wear red.  In fact, when it is your animal year (12,24,36 multiples of 12) you should wear red.  Why?  We were told that wearing red can protect you from the strength of the year.  (Think something along the lines that, not all positive changes are easy or “smooth seas do not make for skillful sailors”).  Since I have been home I have told all my friends born in the year of the Dragon about wearing red and informally surveyed some of my other friends about 12, 24, 36, 48 etc. and it was generally agreed that those were challenging  years (if they had known about wearing red they would have).

So, Happy New Year, wear red if it suits you. These pictures are from a New Year’s celebration I attended in Vancouver, BC in 2008 (not the year of the Dragon).  A quick google search tell me that the parade for this year will be on the January 29, 2012.