Sacramento kickstarts Lunar New Year with lion dancing, temple visits and family dinners

Something old, something new, even a Mandarin orange or two.

Saturday was the first day of the Lunar New Year, and plenty of Sacramentans of Asian descent celebrated the holiday’s customs – both old and new.

Sacramento’s Chinese of IndoChina Friendship Association kicked off its celebration Saturday morning with lion dance and martial arts performance by Lun Yee Tong Lion Dance troupe at the Guan Yin Temple on Elder Creek Road. The celebrations featured eight lions and a dragon.

Visitors were treated to Mandarin oranges, which represent good luck, and plenty were snacking on them on the warm winter day.

About 300 to 400 spectators encircled the performers – many seniors and children in short-sleeved shirts – as they watched in awe and filmed the festivities with phones. Children, dressed in traditional Chinese and Vietnamese clothings including cheongsam, tangzhuang and áo dài danced to the rhythms of the drums and percussion beat.

Thousands of people have come each year to burn incense and give offerings to the Guan Yin, the goddess of mercy, since the association was formed in 1981, according to Linda Lui, the group’s president. In addition to the lion dance, a free vegetarian luncheon was put on by volunteers accompanied by karaoke – all in the spirit of bringing good karma for the year.

Benjamin Tran came by himself to the event near Stockton Boulevard to pray for good health and fortune. The 23-year-old midtown resident reminisced about his childhood visiting temples with his parents in Los Angeles, but said as an adult he’s enjoyed learning the formal customs and meanings behind the holiday.

“A lot of my celebration relies on what my parents taught me,” Tran said. “I want to preserve the traditions and keep practicing them for myself. It is one of my favorites – a holiday that I get to claim as my own.”

But when it comes to holiday dinner preparation, Tran said he’s not so traditional.

Planning for a potluck dinner with his friends Saturday night after visiting temple, Tran said he would skip the long hours and meticulous planning of making a feast by buying hard-to-cook dishes, like traditional new year roasted duck.

“I think it is about what everyone can cook and whatever anyone wants to bring.” It is more about spending time together, he said.

Brandon Louie, 33, who grew up in Sacramento, said he follows some traditional customs every year. He cleaned his house and got a haircut the day before the new year at Dream Hair Salon along Stockton Boulevard to “sweep out the old in order to usher in the new.”

The salon’s owner, Tony Wang, said business was particularly busy during the new year, when more people will get haircuts.

Louie also checked updates from famous feng shui masters like Mak Ling-ling and So Man-fung, both from Hong Kong, to seek guidance on what to do to protect himself according to his Chinese zodiac signs. He bought signature new year pastries such as rice cake, white radish cake and water chestnut cakes from Pegasus Bakery, many of which were already sold out on Friday.

Sherry Hoang brought her 3-year old daughter, Grace, to watch her brother, who was leading the lion dances. As a student, the Sacramento native attended at the association’s Mandarin school in 1990. On Friday night, the last day of the previous year, she shared a family dinner with her nine siblings and 26 nieces and nephews.

“Every year is different, depending on what my mom wants to do,” Hoang said. She prayed for prosperity and for the new year to go smoothly, with no accidents and lawsuits.

Linda Lui, who has been the president of the Indo-Chinese Association five years ago, also grew up being a student at the Mandarin school since its opening in 1982. Lui is ethnically Chinese, who came to the U.S. form Vietnam as a child.

The organization was founded to serve Chinese people from the diaspora of Vietnam, Cambodia, China and Taiwanese.

The association, Lui said, was created to find a community in Sacramento. “When the refugees came in 1982, people scattered, and didn’t know where to go or ask for help. The association was formed so that people who came later can seek help for translations, to fill up paperwork, applying for aids, things like that.” She said people who got break-ins to their houses a few years ago came to them for help.

The Mandarin school, founded in 1982, provides a practice space for the Lion Dance troupe, Lui said. She recalled the time before the school was founded, that the elders had gathered a couple pieces of wooden boards to make a table and chairs for the children, and chipped in $50 back in the days for their children to study Mandarin. Her father was one of them.

It was her father who told her to help out in the association and give back to the community.

“We still need to be around,” Lui said. “The elders need a place to gather and go to for help.”

And the celebrations are still around for a few days – the Tet Festival in Little Saigon, which celebrates the new year in Vietnamese traditions, takes place next weekend.

“People do appreciate it. The smiles on their faces are priceless,” she added.

This story was originally published January 25, 2020 at 5:31 PM.