Year of the pig in Mexico
How the Chinese New Year is celebrated in different parts of Mexico City.
The Chinese New Year is celebrated in different parts of Mexico City. The capital of the country resumes today its celebrations with exhibitions, dance, and food, but the most important date is to meet with family and friends
The year that is governed by the Land Pig begins today. Mexico City is not far behind in the celebrations for the birth of this period. The capital of the country celebrates with exhibitions, dance, food, and lots of colors, however, specialists remember that the most important thing of the Chinese New Year is to meet with family, friends, and other loved ones.
In the same sense, Enrique Dussel, coordinator of the Center for China-Mexico Studies (Cechimex) of the Faculty of Economics of UNAM, says that the celebration also called Spring Festival is a time of family reunion. "It is the maximum holiday in Chinese culture and date of a family reunion where people return to their places of origin to meet with family and friends," says the researcher.
However, the coordinator of Cechimex details that the celebrations are different in Mexico and the Asian country. Remember that the possibility of the Chinese residing in the country returning to their places of origin is reduced by distance, so they spend the New Year with their co-nationals. In addition, the celebrations in Mexico lose the sense of reunion and acquire the festive nuance of the national culture.
"In Mexico, especially cultural events are held, including music, calligraphy, sports, and tournaments. That gives it some characteristics that are not realized in China, "says Dussel. The coordinator of the Chinatown adds that the commemoration of the New Year was adapted according to the preferences of the people residing in Mexico City and that is why the activities organized in different parts of the city are more festive.
This Chinese New Year represents 4717 in the lunar calendar and starts today February 5. This stage is governed by the pig and by the land. This animal, the last of the Chinese zodiac, represents health and sensitivity. According to the astrology of the Asian country, pork is related to fortune by its personality, considered fertile and noble. The Chinatown is an area of the Historical Center dedicated to the culture of the Asian country that at this time becomes one of the main scenarios to celebrate the New Year.
One of the most important events to celebrate the Spring Festival in the two blocks of the street of Dolores is the traditional dance of the lion and the dragon. In this dance, the two beings that represent protection walk the walkways and some local neighborhoods such as Ching King, Asia Shop, Tong Fong, and Lee Market. According to the promotion and marketing coordinator of Barrio Chino, the dance of both mythological beings is a ritual that helps close cycles and start new ones. Dancing can cleanse bad moments of the past and start from scratch.
The show is presented at different times this year. The first time the dragon and lion took to the streets of Chinatown in 2019 was yesterday, but today at 3:00 pm the ritual is repeated and from February 8 to 10 it can be seen at 4:00 p.m. Another of the unmissable activities in Chinatown to commemorate the year of the pig is the pyrotechnic games that take place on February 8, 9, and 10 at 6:00 p.m. To taste a bit of the traditional food of this country, the restaurants of the neighborhood prepared a special menu that includes the typical dishes of the date.
Not only in the two blocks of the Historical Center the New Year is celebrated. There is also a drawing exhibition at the Postal Palace composed of 172 pieces made by children who participated in the fifth edition of the Chinese Children's Drawing and Painting Competition in my imagination. The sample remains until February 14. The Chamber of Deputies also exhibits a sample of prints called The multicolored charm of Chinese engraving. It can be enjoyed until February 22.
In that sense, Dussel says that the New Year celebrations are also an opportunity for Mexicans to meet and Chinese culture. According to the Cechimex coordinator, the activities that commemorate the Spring Festival awakened people's curiosity to know more about Asian culture. Last weekend, the city also had different activities to commemorate the Chinese New Year and the relationship between Mexico and China.
The Chinese embassy in Mexico celebrated Chinese Culture Day on Saturday and hosted a reception for the Spring Festival. The ambassador of China in Mexico, Qiu Xiaoqi, expressed his best wishes to all his compatriots living in Mexico, among them students and workers. The celebrations of the Chinese New Year in Mexico City are presented as an opportunity for the family reunion and to learn a little more about the culture of the Asian country.
