Last weekend, people from all over the world festively welcomed in the Year of the Dragon. Celebrations were equally colourful and festive right here at home, just outside Joburg, at the Nan Hua Temple in Bronkhorstspruit.

The Chinese New Year works in cycles of 12, with this year being the year of the dragon. The exact day of the New Year is determined by the cycles of the moon, with the new moon welcoming in the New Year.

At Nan Hua, the New Years energy and vibe was remarkable! Whether you were young, old, male or female, big, small, someone, anyone or no-one, you could not deny the positivity and happiness shared by all who attended this event.

The festival always starts out with a BANG!! Regular attendees of this event enjoy watching the expressions on the faces of newcomers, when the loud crackle of fireworks erupts, seemingly out of nowhere. The smoke and deafening sound welcome in the New Year with a ground-shaking, crackling repeat of BANGS!! At this point, the excitement is of course incredibly high throughout the crowd!

The fireworks truly introduce the start of the New Year, and are directly followed by the dragon dance. Accompanied by traditional music, the dragon soars through the sky, chasing a ball, performing various loops and turns along the way.

After the dragon dance, the chinese lions entertain the crowds with their performance. While watching their dance, one can get so mesmerised by their movements, one almost forgets that the moves are made up by 2 bodies in costume.

The day includes a number of cultural performances, such as Spanish dancing, Martial Arts displays, Musicians and Korean Drumming bands. And of course, there is the food! Copious food stalls enticed the senses with their sights, smells and taste samples. Between these, you may also have noticed a few of the goods for sale, if you weren’t completely floating along the clouds of delicious whiffs of food.

Even if the Mayans were right, I think the dragon is here to kick some serious butt and prepare us for great challenges this year. Whether we rise to meet our individual challenges, or fail to do so, our outcomes will determine whether we “adapt or die” in 2012, and this will be the true reflection of the “prediction”.

Best wishes for the Year of the Dragon!

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