New Year’s helps Asians preserve culture

Kirk Baird

Saturday, Jan. 27, 2001 | 10:04 a.m.

The Chinese New Year is the most important holiday in the Asian culture.

And with Las Vegas' rapidly growing Asian population, it's only appropriate the celebration gets its due.

For the seventh year in a row, Chinatown Plaza will commemorate the Chinese New Year 10 a.m.-5 p.m. today.

This year's event will feature folk dancing, Taiko drumming and cultural displays and exhibitions, such as Chinese fortune telling, calligraphy and Feng Sui. An Asian food festival will feature 16 varieties of Eastern cuisine, including Chinese, Japanese, Korean and Thai.

Cathy Endy, who will perform at the event as part of Shirley Chen and Dancers, a group specializing in Chinese folk dances, said that traditionally the Chinese New Year, which lasts 15 days, is mostly for family members and old friends to get together.

"Throughout the year everybody is busy with their own thing," Endy said. "People work in different states or in other parts of the world. But during this time they come together; they show us the bond of family. It's very important."

James Chen, who is chairman of the Chinese-American Chamber of Commerce as well as the president of Chinatown Plaza Inc., came up with the idea for the Las Vegas celebration as a means for the community -- rather than individuals -- to mark the event.

The first year saw about 7,000 people in attendance, Chen said, and has continued to grow. This year, weather permitting, he expects up to 10,000 attendees -- and not just Chinese-Americans.

"There are a lot of non-Asians who want to enjoy the culture," he said. "It's eye-opening for people. Chinese are very hospitable people, and we like the opportunity to introduce our culture."

Since 2001 marks the Year of the Snake, which, Chen said, belongs to the wise, a 12-foot python will be present at the event. But probably the biggest draw is the dragon-and-lion dance.

The dragon consists of a large, lizardlike head, with a 150-foot-long tail that snakes around a stage. It requires 35 people to control it, all of whom practice Shaolin, the main style of kung fu.

For the lions -- there are three, a father, mother and child -- the costumes are similar, only much smaller, requiring only two people to operate.

Nonetheless, both are very difficult to maneuver and require a great deal of practice, said Steven Baugh, a teacher-instructor, or Sifu, at the Lohan School of Shaolin, which is providing the "teams" for the lions and dragon.

Both animals are significant to the Chinese culture, Baugh said, and the school performs the routines year-round.

To the Chinese, he said, the dragon represents an attempt to get rid of any debts or problems they may have. ("The ability to start anew.") And the lion rids any remaining negative energy around them.

"The dragon is more spiritually important to them, but the lion they have more involvement with -- weddings, birthday parties, things of that nature," Baugh said.

As for Shirley Chen and Dancers, Endy said the group will perform two types of dances: the Fan Dance, which is a representational-type of dance where movement symbolizes various meanings; and the Banquet Dance, which involves plates, chopsticks and cups, and would ordinarily be performed during a meal for a special guest.

Although the purpose of celebrating the Chinese New Year is for everyone to have fun, there is deeper meaning behind it, she said.

It's events such as this, where thousands of years of Asian history are on display, Endy said, that helps keep the traditions alive -- especially among a generation of Asian-Americans more aware of pop culture than Chinese culture.

"Hopefully, they'll remember this," she said. "Even if they live in a Western country like the United States, they'll pick up on the customs (at the celebration) and remember their own customs and traditions."