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Once upon a time a Chinese New Year’s celebration was a strange and exotic event but today it’s part of the everyday cultural landscape. China is exporting her culture and the world is welcoming the coming of the Dragon.

It seems not only like another time but another world, the time when, as a child, my Chinese best friend’s father took my brother and I to a celebration of the Chinese New Year just a few streets over. There was no Chinatown back then, in fact, the Chinese community in Dublin, Ireland in those days was only a few hundred families and although widely accepted and respected by everyone the community remained largely segregated. My best friend Dick’s father had not a word of English and he spoke to me in Mandarin, which his son expertly translated for me.

The celebration was a very modest affair and consisted of a few families sharing food and drink, song and good times and ended with the, to my youthful eyes, wondrous sight of fireworks and a traditional dragon dance. This to me was another world entirely, the culture seemed at the same time fantastically exotic and incomprehensively alien but surrounded by smiling faces and the generosity of the hosts I quickly entered the festive spirit and experienced the magic another culture on its biggest night of the year.

Fast-forward to 2012 and the quaint scene from my childhood could not be further removed from the festivities that will take place to usher in the Chinese New Year not only in Dublin but in every city around the world. Dublin will open its festivities with a carnival, and open-air opera and a film festival as the now thousands-strong Chinese community take to the streets joined by locals of every race and creed to celebrate the end of one year and the beginning of another. Every major city in the world will celebrate the Chinese New Year, not as a minority event but as a primary event on city’s calendar, evidence not only of the growth of Chinese communities in every city, but of the explosion of Chinese culture globally.

According to the Chinese calendar the 2012, which officially begins on January 23^rd, is the Year of the Dragon, which is said to represent ‘untold riches’, not a bad omen for these straightened times. In Chinese culture the dragon is considered a divine beast and a symbol of good fortune and intense power. Timing is everything and many of the world’s economists will be uncorking the bubbly with the arrival of this harbinger of prosperity.  The world, it seems, is ready and eagerly awaiting the arrival of ‘The Dragon’ with open arms.

Probably the biggest and longest running Chinese New Year celebration is that held in San Francisco every year. It began in the 1860’s during the Gold Rush era and has increased in size ever since to today being recognized as the biggest New Year parade outside of Asia. The famed Golden Dragon that is central to the grand finale is over 60 meters long, will be carried by over 100 men and will accompanied by some 600,000 fireworks.

In Europe London hosts the biggest celebration, but does so traditionally on the first Sunday of the New Year. As this year’s Chinese New Year falls on the 23^rd of January the parade will take place the following Sunday on the 29^th. Initiated by the Mayor of the city it is a poignant moment as this is the year that we see the Olympic torch pass from Beijing to London with preparations for the world’s biggest sporting event well under way in the British capital.

 Sidney, Australia has really embraced Chinese culture and you can see this in the sheer scale of the festival it has planned for the New Year. Starting on Friday 20^th of January the festivities continue throughout the whole of the Chinese New Year festival period and finish on February 5^th with events of all colour and hue from food to dance, art and theatre.

This is more the Chinese Cultural Evolution, than an extension of Mao’s Cultural Revolution and reflects the growing importance of China on the world stage economically. In fact, China has declared it’s outward view and knows the importance of a true representation of itself in the sphere of world culture. In a world that was once dominated by Western culture it is the Chinese that are winning hearts and minds of the West through the spreading of their cultural values.

In a recent speech China’s Paramount Leader or President Hu Jintao expressed his concern that China’s cultural standing worldwide was not in line with the county’s power standing. "The overall strength of our culture and international influence is not commensurate with China's international status," according to Hu. “The West , he said, "has a stronger culture and media landscape" internationally.

This is hardly surprising as China’s economic growth has occurred at a never-before-seen rate and it will take time before China can haul all other aspects of it’s influence – cultural, environmental, social up to the same level but there are clear signs that the process is underway. But China is the oldest civilisation on the planet and Hu listed a number of prescriptions to help China catch up, including, "Cultivate a high degree of cultural awareness and cultural self-confidence, improve the quality of the whole civilized nation, and enhance national cultural soft power."

So in looking to the West, China has come to realize the significance of the cultural landscape and China’s destiny as a major player and influence on global culture. It is in everybody’s interests that cultural hegemony not be allowed to flourish and China’s presence can offer an antidote and add to a diverse and rich cultural tapestry that, in the future, can promote greater understanding. For the idea of a global community should and must have the people of China at its very centre. So there are a myriad of reasons for us all to celebrate Chinese New Year it is in every sense a new dawn for all of us. Xin Nian Hao!

by Hugo Mc Cafferty 

TAGS: Chinese New Year The Year of the Dragon Beijing Hu Jintao Chinatown San Francisco Sydney London China CNY12