The Hague celebrates Chinese New Year on Saturday for the first time since Covid

The Chinese New Year will be celebrated in The Hague on Saturday for the first time since January 2020. The past two editions of the national celebration were canceled due to the coronavirus pandemic.

Lion Dances and Dragon Dances will be performed through the city on Chinese New Year. Drums will also be played during the celebration, which will feature fireworks and red decorations meant to drive away evil spirits, as well as a great deal of food. The event will be held in the city’s Chinatown, a neighborhood not far from City Hall and the Binnenhof parliament complex.

Those celebrating Chinese New Year will mark the end of the Year of the Tiger this weekend, while bringing in the year 4721. The Chinese Zodiac considers this to be the Year of the Rabbit, which, according to tradition, is dedicated to "the pursuit of a safe and social existence."

People born in that year are said to be eloquent peacemakers. The Mandarin phrase, “Gong Xi fā cái,” is one of the festive greetings associated with the Chinese New Year and is literally meant to wish people prosperity and good fortune.

The Chinese Zodiac, according to legend, originated when Buddha called all the animals to him before he died. The rat appeared first, then the ox, then the tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and pig. As a reward, Buddha then assigned every year to one of the animals.

Since the pig was last to arrive, that animal closes the cycle. After the Year of the Pig, the series starts all over again.