The year of the dragon sparks city celebration
Posted on Jan 31, 2012 in Features
The year of the Dragon was rang in this Saturday at the annual Chinese New Year celebration at the Boutwell Auditorium. As a dragon myself, I was there to witness all of the oriental festivities.
From the moment I walked in I realized that the Chinese New Year is quite the occasion for a whole lot of people — from more than just a Chinese background.
The Chinese New Year celebration took place on Saturday at the Boutwell Auditorium. The celebration is the most important cultural holiday all year. Emily Wheeler/Staff Photographer
They had booths, oriental gifts, hand crafted art, oriental dance competitions and of course, Chinese food. But perhaps what caught my eye the most was the booth for the Alabama Asian Culture Association, a non-profit group aimed at — guess what — Asian culture in Alabama.
I spoke to Helen Kim, a professor in UAB’s Pharmacology department and self-professed part time artist. I walked up to her booth as she was putting the finishing touches on a lotus flower hair pin.
“Our main goal is to build a fantastic Chinese garden,” said Kim. Next to the Alabama Asian Culture’s booth was a model for
the proposed project. “This is our fundraiser to help raise money for this project,” explained Kim.
The garden project looked amazing, I must say. Tranquility gardens, bamboo, ponds, koi fish, the whole nine yards. The location for the project is still yet to be determined, however I am on board with this project and you should be too. It could be like Birmingham’s China town, minus the town.
The Chinese New year celebration is definitely worth checking out next year. I was pleasantly surprised to see the large turnout. And I was even more surprised to see throngs of people who were not of Chinese decent.
Not only is the Alabama Asian Culture Association an admirable nonprofit to support, it can also help to bring more tranquility to our rusty old town in the form of a classical Chinese garden. And who wouldn’t want that?
Cody Owens
Staff Writer
cjowens@uab.edu
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