Saturday,
August 8th, 2015
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| "Nouvel an chinois 2015 Paris 13 danse du lion" by Myrabella - Own work. Licensed under CC BY-SA 4.0 via Wikimedia Commons - https://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Nouvel_an_chinois_2015_Paris_13_danse_du_lion.jpg#/media/File:Nouvel_an_chinois_2015_Paris_13_danse_du_lion.jpg |
Last
night construction kept me up for most of the hours. The whole street
was affected and I wondered how the bus would stop for its passengers
on the street.
There
were angry voices yelling in the alleyway. I think they too, the
homeless rather, were kept up by the racket of the construction as
well.
Then
in the late morning, I heard the sound of crashing symbols, drums and
firecrackers approaching. The lions were awake.
Every
once in a while, lion dancers from various Kung Fu associations will
go through the streets in front of businesses in Chinatown to bring
good luck and chase out bad luck.
They
had plenty of bad luck to chase out with all the terrible
construction work that affected the businesses. I heard one Boba Tea
place was giving discounts during the construction work to make up
for the racket and lack of parking which in San Francisco, is already
constricted.
The
lions (2 people per costume) would dance, some would go in and then
two check marks drawn in chalk would mark the entry way. Sometimes
firecrackers would also be lit in front. My guess being those who had
donated money to the association would be given this extra perk of
extra good luck. Not all businesses opened their doors to the lions
and not all had fireworks.
I'm
not sure what the reason for this is or why these lion dancers
continue to go about chasing away bad luck to bring in good luck but
it's good advertising. All the tourists took pictures and were
gathered around to watch the lions and see what was going on.
Saturdays
are usually the most busy in Chinatown (and the loudest). Besides the
lion dancers, there are sometimes Salvation Army marchers complete
with uniform trumpet players, drums, flag wavers and much ceremony
that closes the street while they parade around. Sometimes the police
have to direct traffic around them, so I'm guessing this is planned
ahead (hopefully).
Then
there are also funeral processions that come out from North
Beach/Little Italy through Chinatown and up back Kearny street.
In
the Chinatown plaza there is traditional Chinese Opera, songs and
skits performed by Chinese associations along with the Falun Gong
protestors who quietly do their exercises, under their advertised
signs of persecution from the Chinese Government (Chinese Communist
Party) and its history of abuse. The Falun Gong practitioners also
pass out flyers about the illegal organ harvesting done to Falun Gong
prisoners and protestors in China. Illegal organ harvesting is
another major concern around the world.
In
the evenings at the plaza, line dancers take center stage for an hour
or two and it's usually every night they do this. The music is lively
and at times poignant and it's fun to watch though I haven't had the
chance (or the guts) to take part in it.
There
is also the sound of the traditional and folk Chinese music playing
from various radios of the elderly and homeless as they sit to play
Chinese Chess (象棋
Xiàngqí
- Wikipedia). This picture isn't Chinatown San Francisco but was taken from Wikipedia.
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| By David Maximillian Waterman (Own work) [GFDL (http://www.gnu.org/copyleft/fdl.html), CC-BY-SA-3.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/3.0/) or CC BY-SA 2.0 (http://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.0)], via Wikimedia Commons |
They also gamble
and I've seen (and heard) plenty of mah jong parlors around,
especially on Ross and Spofford street. I may have already seen some
of the famous Chinatown "members" who run these
associations. Risque massage parlors with no price sheet, locked
doors and "appointment only" signs still have their place
here along with the past reputation of the brothels on Waverly Place
in the mid-1800's (Wikipedia).
There
are also Chinese Opera and music associations too and I've had the
wonderful opportunity of walking past while they practice at night.
I
am still looking for Dee's Pet Shop of Horrors in this Chinatown at
night and I keep expecting to come across it, maybe on those
particular alleyways I haven't walked on, those that look like dead
ends but really aren't.
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恐怖宠物店 (Pettoshoppu obu Horāzu)
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