Lunar New Year of 2023 starts this Sunday.
Celebrations are seen in the Chinese community.
“This is our most important festival of the year,” said Karen Chan, a newcomer from Hong Kong, cannot hide her excitement celebrating her first Chinese New Year in Canada. “We thought we wouldn’t celebrate it this year, but our friends and relatives are all getting festive about it.”
Chan said many Chinese restaurants have been doing promotions and are fully reserved ahead of time.
“Our sales went up during Lunar New Year,” said Sandra Man, a worker from a Chinese food manufacturer from Toronto. “Covid has reduced sales for previous years and now we short labour with more orders coming in.”
Man believed that celebrations will end in early February.
Karen Chan visited her relatives this year as a part of their tradition. “We have different Chinese dishes today. We have turnip cake, poon choi, dumplings, and lamb stew.”
“We have shared our neighbors some of the food and they actually liked it,” said Chan. “It is so nice to share the joy with everyone especially to people who are not familiar with our culture.”
Like many other newcomers, Chan has questions concerning her identity.
“We came here to live a new life, but I still think it is important for us to remember our root,” said Chan. “We want to be like Canadians, but that doesn’t mean that we have to leave our Hong Kong identity behind.”
Chan believed a stronger sense of belonging will be built as she spends more time in Canada.
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