Chinese celebrate New Year in Kolkata
On Saturday, the Chinese community in Kolkata celebrated New Year. with a lot of fanfare. The celebrations took place in the Tangra and Tiretta Bazar areas (the new and old Chinatowns, respectively), where they were joined by members of others communities as well.
While some engaged in the traditional dragon dance, others contributed by installing red lanterns. Numerous people set up food stalls.
These collaborative efforts not only encouraged wider participation, but are also crucial in helping to keep up the tradition, given the declining number of Chinese families residing in the city.
From over 1 lakh even three years ago, the community’s population has dwindled to a few thousand, as a result of migrations (which has increased in recent years) to Canada, USA, Australia, West Asia and Europe.
As most of the youths have migrated, almost half the participants now are non-Chinese, Tangra resident Josephine Chu told a news outlet. “Local non-Chinese people have become an integral part of the Chinese New Year celebrations,” Chinese entrepreneur Janice Lee told the same outlet.
