A rainy day didn’t stop a New York City community from coming together to celebrate the Chinese New Year, the year of the rat.
In Flushing, Queens, excited crowds watched on Jan. 25 as a parade of dragon dances, colorful floats, and ladies dressed as heavenly maidens performing a Chinese folk dance, passed by.
The holiday brings festivity to people from all different ages, ethnicities, cultures, and faiths.
Taekwondo instructor Jason Liu told NTD he came to the parade to show the younger generations the eastern cultural celebration. “That’s why we have to come to the parade, [to] let the next generation know our culture from [the] east,” said Liu.
Other parade participants sharing a piece of ancient culture was a large group of Falun Dafa practitioners. They said they hoped the crowd would feel the solemnity that comes from following the principles of truthfulness, compassion, and tolerance—the core principals of the practice.
“I hope they will see the authenticity of Falun Dafa and the righteousness of this practice,” said Ana Craurn, a Falun Dafa practitioner from Romania. They also hope to raise awareness of the persecution that Falun Dafa practitioners in China are still facing today.
Other participants wore a multitude of vibrant colors, and some dressed as heavenly maidens stood inside lotus flowers, twirling and gracefully weaving in and out of formations.
Not too far from the dancing ladies, was the Tian Guo marching band. The marching band performs in the parade every year with the mission to let the beauty of Falun Dafa resonate from within people’s hearts.
Members from The Epoch Times and NTD Television wished everyone a wonderful new year while riding through the crowd on a colorful float, and others spread joyful New Year greetings by passing out goodies to the crowd.
Chinese New Year, also known as the Lunar Year, is one of the most important holidays on the Chinese calendar and a longstanding tradition that will be passed down for many years to come.
