Three
things cannot be long hidden: the sun, the moon, and the truth.
Buddha
January is
behind us and the New Year celebrations are behind us. Or, are they? The Chinese
Lunar New Year is soon going to be upon us and as my
friends in both Second Life (SL) and Real Life (RL) tell me, it’s quite a
shindig too. (Truth be told, I’ve done a
fair bit of Lunar New Year celebrating myself in RL.)
Some
background first. This is the Year of the Snake in the Chinese zodiac. Using the corresponding Wu Xing (Five Elements), this year’s element is water. Check out the links if you’re not familiar
with the concepts because they are different from the traditional Western
zodiac which many of us are familiar with.
They give an interesting insight into Chinese culture and its
traditional underpinnings.
My
old friend, Perryn
Peterson, also one of the most interesting
people I’ve met in SL and who I think is
singlehandedly trying to recreate every holiday and festival in RL in SL, is
hosting a Chinese Lunar New Year celebration in the Mieville
sim.
My
regular readers, there are a few of you, will know that Perryn has recently
hosted the Day
of the Dead Celebration inworld followed by a Dickens
Christmas.
Oh, and by the
way, if you’re looking for the New Year celebrations inworld this coming
February 10th, the official date, then you’ll be out of luck because
of a conflict with Perryn’s Mardi
Gras celebration taking place at the same time (I still don’t know how he
does it all.) the Chinese Lunar New Year
inworld will be celebrated from February 16th to 24th.
(SL is nothing if not flexible.)
Here’s the program of events at Mieville:
新年好 Day 1 (Saturday 16th February)
12:00 PM SLT:
Parade! Dress in Chinese costume
and join us to open the Chinese New Year Festival in Mieville!
ALL WEEK:
There will be a mini-hunt for Lucky Red Packets!
Reward of 2L per packet found! Many are hidden! Good luck!
新年好 Day 2 (Sunday, 17th February)
Cai Shen -- the God of Wealth's birthday and
the birthday of all dogs!
10:00 AM SLT:
Bring your pet dog to Mieville for the Dogs Parade!
新年好 Day 3 (Monday, 18th February)
The return of the Kitchen God!
We'll have a special celebration honoring
this messenger to the Jade
Emperor as he returns from Heaven.
6:00 PM SLT:
Meet for an evening of friendship, food and drink!
新年好 Day 4 (Tuesday, 19th February)
6:00 PM SLT:
Fireworks on the wharf!
A chance to explore the wonderful shops of
Chinatown!
新年好 Day 5 (Wednesday, 20th February)
Everybody's Birthday (Renri)!
Today everybody gets a year older!
6:00 PM SLT:
Special Chinese birthday party!
新年好 Day 6 (Thursday, 21st February)
Since food is a great part of celebrating
Chinese New Year, our Salon this evening will be devoted to discussing the
customs and special foods eaten during the Chinese New Year festival.
Meet at 6:00 PM SLT.
新年好 Day 7 (Friday, 22nd February)
The day of Guan Yu, a famous Chinese general who is considered to be the Taoist God
of War.
We'll have a fishing contest to honour this
god! Whoever is the fiercest
"feesher" will win Lindens and lots of good luck!
Fishing!
Off the wharf in Chinatown! 9:00
PM SLT!
新年好 Day 8 (Saturday, 23rd February)
Chinese New Year Weekly Theme Dance!
6:00 PM - 8:00 PM SLT.
新年好 Day 9 (Sunday, 24th February)
Lantern
Festival!
There'll be FIREWORKS!
4:00 PM SLT:
You are invited to parade with lanterns as we celebrate the Chinese
version of Valentine's Day and close the festival.
TURN IN your Lucky Red Packets!
Reward of 2L per packet found!
As
I hope you will see there is a full program of events around the Chinese Lunar
New Year and I believe makes the wait all the more worthwhile!
I
want to thank Perryn for forwarding to me the details of his Chinese Lunar New
Year and taking the time to answer my questions.
Below,
I’ve included links to pictures from the site of the Mieville Chinese Lunar New
Year celebrations but because a party is always more fun than pictures
(especially when I’m the photographer) please visit it and see for
yourselves!
And
if you’re looking for something to do while waiting for the SL Chinese Lunar
New Year celebrations then check out Perryn’s Mardi Gras celebrations from February
9th to 12th in the Mieville sim.
As
always, I’m grateful to all for their kindness and time in stopping to talk
with a stranger who was passing through their lives.
Perryn has planned the
festivities in a pasture with lots of sheep about!
