Chinese New Year markets

I can't believe Chinese New Year has finally arrived! Here I was in Belmore Park across Eddy Ave. I was surrounded by traditional red lanterns hanging in the tree, numerous food and craft stalls, stage performances, cooking demos and more. Interstingly enough, some people were wearing red since red symbolises good luck and fortune especially at this time of the year. Besides the food, I couldn't help checking out the numerous performances happening throughout the day and the mainland Chinese art and craft stalls.



I loved noticing and tasting the variety of Chinese foods, including the

har gow (prawn dumplings), martarmek (Indonesian savoury pancakes filled with shallots, onion and chicken), satays, and Malaysian style sweetpancakes given the variety of stalls. Having tasted the martamek, I thought it was a refreshing change from the spring rolls which is typical of Chinese food. The outside felt like the crunchiness of spring rolls.

But there is more to the markets besides the food. Observing the folk art and the performances helped me to keep in touch with my culture. It raised my awareness of how rich in culture it is, artistically speaking. I personally reckon that these performances and folk art should be done at the Art Gallery of NSW if we are to promote and raise awareness on aspects of Chinese culture, especially for Chinese New Year. I admired the bamboo carvings which dictates scenes of ancient China, papercrafts, traditional Chinese paintings and woodblock printing, and the folk embroidery works on shoe soles. More pics from the markets can be seen here.