Dubai: Six-year-old Karl Ng Jihao made his first Chinese paper lantern in class yesterday. He joined about a dozen other children in making the traditional lanterns in preparation for the Chinese New Year tomorrow.
"First you have to colour the pictures here. Then, you fold, and you cut, like this," the young Chinese-Malaysian boy said. "You have to choose the colour first and then the teacher will staple it. It's easy to make."
"[This is] a lantern for the Chinese New Year. You have to hang it at your house. I will hang it in my room, in the living room, in the kitchen," he said. "It will bring good luck."
Many believe that the paper lanterns symbolise the Chinese culture. When a new year begins, everywhere in China and across the rest of the world, Chinese families make paper lanterns, light them and hang them in their homes. A festival specifically for this is celebrated for 15 days after the new year.
"Lantern [making] is very part of the Chinese culture celebration. It is really important for them to know how to make it. They love it," Ming Ming Munro, a teacher at the Dubai Chinese Learning Centre (DCLC), told Gulf News.
Learning the language
"It is also good for them to learn the language, the writing and it's good for them to learn how to write the word ‘Spring' and also ‘Happy New Year' as well and they are actually learning it through doing things," Munro said.
More than 200,000 Chinese expatriates in the UAE are gearing up to celebrate their New Year, tomorrow. The children of Chinese expats often miss the opportunity to learn their native language properly for the lack of a Chinese school in the country. Some parents enrol their children at DCLC to make up for this need.
"Because they study in Dubai here they don't have any Chinese class right? So, I did enrol them here so at least they can improve their Chinese. Even though I teach Chinese to them, they can't catch up very well," Lee Chin Yeek, a parent-of-three, said.
Dragon dances
"They have to learn Chinese because I really think that learning it is very important so they can communicate with my parents and elders. They have to know the [Chinese culture] since that's where they are from," Chin Yeek said.
Chinese New Year is the longest public holiday in China that signals the changing of the Chinese lunar calendar. It is one of the most important holidays in China and is celebrated for 15 days with lion and dragon dances, family gatherings, and fireworks display.
Where to go
Experience Chinese culture this Chinese New Year in selected places across Dubai. Here are some of the notable events where you can ring in the year of the Dragon.
See the famous ‘money tree' while enjoying a special Chinese menu at the Boulevard at Jumeirah Emirates Towers until January 28, 2012.
Watch two authentic Chinese lion dances with the Burj Al Arab in the background tomorrow. The hotel's exterior ‘sail' will be illuminated by a massive red dragon. The celebration will last until January 29. Enjoy Chinese fortune-telling and a traditional tea ceremony along with a dragon-themed buffet at Anise at the Intercontinental at Festival City Dubai.
