英闻天下——276 San Francisco China Town Celebrations

 　　Named one of the world's top ten parades, the Chinese Lunar New Year Parade in San Francisco has been named the largest celebration of its kind outside of Asia.

 

　　Karen Eng is the coordinator¹ for the Chinese New Year parade.

 

　　She says Chinese New Year is still celebrated² with many of the traditional elements in San Francisco's China Town:

 

　　"I think it's very traditional. The families here still have a dinner to close out the year, you know the whole family gets together, and they have a dinner a few days later to open the New Year. And of course the house is cleaned, we all get new clothes, we all get haircuts before the actual new years day, and we celebrate I think like I said traditionally with passing out red envelopes to children on new year's day. And the businesses here in China town, I notice that they do have lion dancing and they set out the firecrackers to not just ward⁴ off the evil spirits, but also to bring good luck and prosperity for the new year."

 

　　Karen says the events town during the Lunar New Year in China Town San Francisco, similar to New Years celebrations in China lasts for a couple of weeks:

 

　　"We're starting the flower market, and what it is, is it's a place its in China town and they close the whole streets and have lots of vendors⁵ and booths and they sell fresh plants, flowers, new years candy, everything for people to buy for the new years so that they can decorate their homes. It's really, also in China town we're going to have a mini procession parade, its like a kick off, so we're just going to have a teaser to the big parade. Also we're going to have ribbon cutting ceremonies and entertainment in China town, so the flower fair is what kicks it off."

 

　　But the biggest and anticipated event that brings in crowds from all over the world is the Cinese Lunar Parade:

 

　　"The Chinese New Year's San Francisco is I understand the largest one outside of Asia, and I think its unique, because it's a night illuminated⁶ parade and its been going on actually over 150 years. It started in 1847, during the gold rush and the Chinese were here and they wanted to celebrate the new year and they thought of an American tradition and called it a parade, but it was on a dirt road back then, but it wasn't until 1958 that the Chinese Chamber⁷ of commerce took it over, so its been a San Francisco tradition, like the way it is now since like 1950's since over like 55 years so. It is because people come from all over the world and the reason I know that is because I also sell bleacher seats to the parade and so I'm seeing the orders come in from not just around the country and the local bay area, but you know from London, Australia, and Canada and Mexico and the Philippines, and you know so I know its international and being so excited to come here."

 

　　Karen says that every year, the parade hosts a group from China to participate in the parade:

 

　　"Every year, we get a group from China as a to perform in our Chinese New Year parade, and we call them, they're our opening act and this year we're going to have some folk dancers from Guiyang province and that we had the Shanxi dancers a couple of years ago, and many times it's the first time for these performers to come to the US and sometime. Thirty of them will come over and its very unique because they do their special routines and dances".

 

　　In addition to the annual parade, another big event that happens during the Spring Festival in San Francisco's China Town is the Miss China Town Pageant⁸.

 

　　"The Chinese Chamber, took over in '58 and it started earlier as a beauty pageant and the story is they think that the Chinese Americans when they were at War in world war II, they were used to looking at pinups so when they came back here they thought it was a good idea to have something like that and call it Miss China town, but it was a bathing beauty contest, anyways hat continued through 1952 and in 1958, the Chinese New Year festival, they started sponsoring it. Girls from all over the United States compete for this title, and there, they win scholarships and become good will ambassadors⁹, to represent the Chinese communities throughout the world, so it's a pretty popular, we have maybe 16-18 girls participating every year from all over the United States."

 

　　The Parade will be held on February the 23rd in San Fransisco's China Town. Karen says they have a 268 foot golden dragon that is lit up during the parade and takes over 100 men and women to carry throughout the parade.

 

　　Besides the New Years Parade, many other organizations in San Franscico all take part in celebrating the Lunar New Year:

 

　　"The San Francisco symphony¹⁰ has a New Year's concert. The Chinese historical society always has something. And the Asian Art museum is doing a terra cotta display this year. The San Francisco Zoo even gets involved, And the San Francisco botanical gardens, they always do something special for the Lunar New Year: either lion dancing or story telling, it's very special it's a big deal here."

 

　　And so, while people here in China are ringing in the Lunar New Year, other cities and countries throughout the world will also be dancing through the streets and lighting¹¹ up the sky with fire crackers³ to celebrate the Spring Festival.

 

　　For CRI, I'm Simone Cote.

1 coordinator   

n.协调人

参考例句：

• The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, headed by the Emergency Relief Coordinator, coordinates all UN emergency relief. 联合国人道主义事务协调厅在紧急救济协调员领导下，负责协调联合国的所有紧急救济工作。
• How am I supposed to find the client-relations coordinator? 我怎么才能找到客户关系协调员的办公室？

2 celebrated   

adj.有名的，声誉卓著的

参考例句：

• He was soon one of the most celebrated young painters in England.不久他就成了英格兰最负盛名的年轻画家之一。
• The celebrated violinist was mobbed by the audience.观众团团围住了这位著名的小提琴演奏家。

3 crackers   

adj.精神错乱的，癫狂的n.爆竹( cracker的名词复数 )；薄脆饼干；（认为）十分愉快的事；迷人的姑娘

参考例句：

• That noise is driving me crackers. 那噪声闹得我简直要疯了。
• We served some crackers and cheese as an appetiser. 我们上了些饼干和奶酪作为开胃品。 来自《简明英汉词典》

4 ward   

n.守卫，监护，病房，行政区，由监护人或法院保护的人（尤指儿童）；vt.守护，躲开

参考例句：

• The hospital has a medical ward and a surgical ward.这家医院有内科病房和外科病房。
• During the evening picnic,I'll carry a torch to ward off the bugs.傍晚野餐时，我要点根火把，抵挡蚊虫。

5 vendors   

n.摊贩( vendor的名词复数 )；小贩；（房屋等的）卖主；卖方

参考例句：

• The vendors were gazundered at the last minute. 卖主在最后一刻被要求降低房价。
• At the same time, interface standards also benefIt'software vendors. 同时，界面标准也有利于软件开发商。 来自About Face 3交互设计精髓

6 illuminated   

adj.被照明的；受启迪的

参考例句：

• Floodlights illuminated the stadium. 泛光灯照亮了体育场。
• the illuminated city at night 夜幕中万家灯火的城市

7 chamber   

n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所

参考例句：

• For many,the dentist's surgery remains a torture chamber.对许多人来说，牙医的治疗室一直是间受刑室。
• The chamber was ablaze with light.会议厅里灯火辉煌。

8 pageant   

n.壮观的游行；露天历史剧

参考例句：

• Our pageant represented scenes from history.我们的露天历史剧上演一幕幕的历史事件。
• The inauguration ceremony of the new President was a splendid pageant.新主席的就职典礼的开始是极其壮观的。

9 ambassadors   

大使( ambassador的名词复数 )； （派驻联合国等国际组织的）代表； 特使； [比喻]使者

参考例句：

• Kennedy, greatly admiring, rated him very high among his ambassadors. 肯尼迪十分赏识他，在所有大使中对他评价很高。
• Many countries were represented by their ambassadors at the Independence Day celebrations. 庆祝美国独立纪念日时，许多国家都派其大使代表参加。

10 symphony   

n.交响乐（曲），（色彩等的）和谐

参考例句：

• The Ninth Symphony of Beethoven is a famous one.贝多芬的第九交响乐非常有名。
• They play over the whole symphony.他们把整个交响乐重新演奏了一遍。

11 lighting   

n.照明，光线的明暗，舞台灯光

参考例句：

• The gas lamp gradually lost ground to electric lighting.煤气灯逐渐为电灯所代替。
• The lighting in that restaurant is soft and romantic.那个餐馆照明柔和而且浪漫。