January 2005 - Chinese New Year

An evening of delicious Chinese food at the Golden Dragon, High Street, Andover welcomed the beginning of the meetings season for Andover Women in Business Club this month.

The January meeting, customarily small in number owing to members’ commitments after the Christmas and New Year season, attracted nearly 30 members. Scheduled as a meeting to celebrate the Chinese New and to hear how working in this country compared to that of living and working in China, it promised to be an interesting meeting.

(Left to right) Alex La, Amanda Prideaux and Kate King (President)

Regrettably, owing to illness, the Club’s January speaker was unable to attend. Forever resourceful, the impromptu lack of speaker prompted one of the committee members to hastily put together a quiz about China and, to the delight of the top two winners, the restaurant donated two meals-for-two as prizes.

Members were equally delighted when Alex La, Manager of the Golden Dragon, offered to stand in as the meeting’s speaker. Alex came to this country at the age of nine, and has lived here for 25 years. He enthralled members with details of the Chinese New Year, explaining how dates are determined by the lunar year, with Chinese New Year’s falling anytime between mid-January and February. The main celebration day falls on 9 th February in 2005.

Alex explained how traditionally no cleaning is done on this special day and how people wear new clothes, normally red, as sign of prosperity and wealth. At the first greeting of the day, mothers and fathers give their children a traditional ‘Lai see’ – a red packet containing money. Gifts are not normally given, though baskets of red-coloured fruits are sometimes exchanged when visiting other households.

During the main day of festivities, families join together to share a family dinner, particularly of fish and premium shellfish, and enjoy fireworks and dragon dances outside their homes. Each New Year is the start of one of 12 animals, with 2005 being the year of the Rooster.

Members were fascinated by Alex’s talk, which generated many questions about the Chinese traditions and were very grateful for his input into their meeting.