Chinese New Year Parade Reflects Cultural Impact

For recent Asian immigrants and longtime Asian-Americans lining the streets of Alhambra and Monterey Park on Saturday, the first Chinese New Year parade to pass through both cities was much more than just an excuse to party.

The celebration sponsored by the two San Gabriel Valley cities signaled an official recognition of the profound impact Chinese culture has had on the once-homogeneous bedroom communities. Over the last decade, newcomers from Taiwan, Hong Kong and Vietnam have transformed businesses, schools and politics in the area.

For many, the parade was the happy conclusion to a tense period that was marked at times by racial conflict and misunderstanding.

The Year of the Monkey began Feb. 4, according to the Chinese lunar calendar. In Asian countries, large-scale celebrations last one or two weeks, during which people pay respect to elders and give hong bao, red envelopes filled with money, to relatives and friends. In the San Gabriel Valley, the holiday has been a more low-key affair. Until Saturday, that is.

“Every year, Chinese New Year is a family event, but this year we needed something different,” Monterey Park Mayor Sam Kiang said. “We’re bringing it to the entire community.”

Saturday’s event attracted local residents who said they did not plan on heading to Chinatown for the larger, more tourist-oriented parade and carnival, scheduled for next weekend.

Organizers counted about 35,000 spectators at the parade and accompanying arts festival; police estimated an attendance of about 5,000.

Monterey Park resident Karen Wallace, who attended the parade with her family, said it is important for young children to be exposed to other cultures through events such as Saturday’s parade.

For Asian-Americans, the parade was an opportunity to reflect on cultural roots.

Tina Cheng, who attends Alhambra High School, said she was trying to retain her Chinese cultural identity at a time that many of her friends “are just becoming Americanized. I try not to be.”

Arcadia resident Kevin Yao sensed the importance of the day as he watched Cantonese and Mandarin opera performances, colorful fan dances and Chinese calligraphy demonstrations.

Yao, 19, who immigrated to the United States from Taiwan four years ago, said he spent previous Chinese New Year weekends in front of a television set, watching celebrations in Taiwan and Hong Kong. There had been nothing else to do, he said, because most Chinese-Americans work through the holiday.

“This is very special for us and very significant,” said Yao, a Pasadena City College student. “We are sharing Chinese culture with all the Americans.”

Meanwhile, others waxed nostalgic as they remembered the way they used to celebrate the new year in their native countries.

Chan Chiu Yin, an immigrant from Hong Kong, said she missed the all-night parties and fireworks in the skies above Victoria Harbor on New Year’s Eve. “Here, it’s much quieter,” she said.