Gallop on the golden road

TODAY MIGHT HERALD the arrival of the Year of the Horse but it’s Chinese lions who’ll be on the streets of Yaowarat in Bangkok’s Chinatown today and tomorrow as visitors join residents in celebrating a brand new year to the sound of drums, cymbals and gongs as well as exploding firecrackers.
The event formally opens at 4.30 with a grand ceremony over which Her Royal Highness Maha Chakri Sirindhorn will preside.
The horse, said to depict strength and agility, will of course be very much present during these Chinese New Year celebrations and indeed is the symbol of the Yaowarat event, which boasts the grand title of “Mamia Mongkol Chai Sakkaraj Mai Mang Mee Sukkhee Yaowarat”.
“The Chinese New Year in Yaowarat is one of the greatest festivals in Thailand and has been celebrated for more than 20 years,” says Dr Pusadee Tamthai, the deputy governor of Bangkok Metropolitan Administration.
“This year, the purpose of this event is the transmission of cultural inheritance – belief in good luck – to young people.”
Yaowarat is well known for its sheer variety of food and at night turns into a large “food street” that draws tourists and locals from all over the city. It also boasts more than 100 gold shops, which has earned it the nickname of “Golden Road”.
The road will be decorated with 1,000 red lanterns from Royal Jubilee Gate, which will be used for the opening ceremony, and also transformed into four zones: Rong Tiem, Rarn Ya Jeen, Ban Fengshui and Rong Lakorn.
“Rong Tiem features a lot of food,” enthuses Yongyut Orsirichaiwet, the new chairman of the Chinese New Year in Yaowarat.
“We’ll be holding four demonstrations of making dim sum, which represents richness, and salapao, symbolising good luck, each day. We’re also offering a variety of auspicious Chinese foods including noodles for a long life and oranges, which are considered auspicious.
“Rarn Ya Jeen” is dedicated to traditional Chinese herbal medicine and will feature demonstrations and tai chi,” adds the 72-year-old chairman, who practises tai chi for 40 minutes every day.
“Sadly there are fewer Chinese herbal medicine shops here than in the past and most of them now offer ‘instant’ medicine in the form of syrups and tablets, which young people find easier and more convenient. I can remember when hours went into making an herbal concoction to support health and strength.”
Feng shui experts and fortune-tellers will be setting up shop in the Ban Fengshui zone.
“Most businessmen believe in feng shui and have invited masters from Malaysia and Hong Kong to arrange their companies in accordance with feng shui principles. The new generation are more interested in physiognomy,” says Yongyut.
Rong Lakorn, meanwhile, will focus on arts and culture. Here visitors can enjoy demonstrations of Chinese calligraphy, painting Chinese opera masks and even the traditional facial hair removal known as “mun ming”.
One of the more popular draws is likely be to be paper cutting. A folk art with a history that dates back to the sixth century, paper cuttings today are chiefly decorative, ornamenting walls, windows, doors, columns, mirrors, lamps and lanterns in homes and are also used on presents. Entrances decorated with paper cut outs are supposed to bring good luck.
There’ll also be Chinese opera – “ngew” – and karaoke.
“Today ngew is mainly performed in celebration of a shrine by one of the Chinese opera troupes whose traditions have been handed down through the generations. The most common stories are ‘The Monkey King’, ‘Romance of the Three Kingdoms’, and ‘Bao Zhieng’,” Yongyut says.
Masks are used in the opera with each colour representing a different meaning. They are used to portray a character's role and illustrate their emotional state and general character with white symbolising evil, green impulsive and violent and red brave and loyal.
And ensuring that the younger generation doesn’t get bored, the stage will also feature mini-concerts by GMM Grammy’s artists including luk thung singer Yinglee Srichumphol, Thanakrit “Waan” Panichawit, Pongkul “Pop” Suebsueng, Kanitkul “Praew” Netbute, Zaza, Warawut “Tum the Star ” Poyim and Nat Sakdatorn.
They’ll be joined by dancers and musicians from Hunan and Guangdong for some breathtaking performances.
And all that remains is to wish all our readers Gung Hei Fat Choi!

CAR-FREE DAYS
Yaowarat Road is closed to traffic from Royal Jubilee Gate to Chalermburi Intersection and Lamphun Chai Road from Charoenkrung to Yaowarat until 4pm Sunday.