There was no Chinese Language School today so we could attend the Northwest Chinese Cultural Association's Chinese New Year Celebration. It was a great afternoon, with lots of food, a lion dance, classical Chinese music, and a "Lucky Draw". There was an article in the local paper about the event which drew in a lot of people so it was really packed. They even had the mayor and the county executive there.

The lion dance was a bit too much for many of the little ones, but Kai enjoyed it, though was glad we were sitting toward the rear of the hall.



We moved up to the front for the classical music portion which was really awesome. An outstanding pair of performers came down from Richmond B.C. Chai-Man Cheng played the dizi and Chuen Ying played the guzheng. They had students of theirs who played with them as well.
They are both truly world class musicians and it was a real treat to have them here in Bellingham. While Kai really enjoyed the music he did get distracted by a bout of attempted shoe-tying with his girlfriend Mimi...

To top off the day Kai even won one of the "Lucky Draws". They had some great prizes, and tried to give us a little tool set, but we asked for one of these great plastic piggy banks from Ikea. We got a green one!

It is the year of the pig after all!