Chinese New Year in Hilo

  

 Yesterday, Hilo had it's Annual Chinese New Year Festival. Here are some pictures from the event. you can see more from past events here: Chinese Film Fest and here: Chinese New Year 2009 And click the following link if you want to learn about Portuguese Bean Soup, which is interestingly the hit of every Chinese New Year Festival in Hilo!

Portuguese Bean Soup!

 

Puppets!

Shave Ice Ice Baby!

Firecrackers ready to go off...

Wordless Wednesday: My Mahjongg Girls!

Hilo Chinese New Year Celebration Part 2

This post is more about the pictures and video (above). I spent the day in downtown Hilo enjoying the festivities. Things started off with The Lion Dance & Blessings. It started by the Kress Building and moved along the sidewalk blessing Hana Hou, Sig Zane Designs, Koehnen's Interiors and ending at Na Makua Original Hawaiian Designs. Along the way, merchants offered red envelopes to the audience and they were encouraged to put money in the envelopes and then feed the lion with the envelopes. The lions would sometimes pretend to "eat" the hands of the people giving offerings too. This is a grueling ordeal for the Lion Dancers and they cleverly switched teams during the dance so that there were always two Lions dancing but so that everyone got a rest too. The fun moved on from there to the Cultural Center and Kalakaua Park where tents & a huge stage were set up.

The park had a row of food booths, the "typical suspects" as they said in Casablanca. There was a Chili and Stew booth, a Thai Booth, 2 Shave Ice Booths, the Portuguese Booth and an Indian Booth. Now, let's think about this... WHERE is the Chinese Food??? Not at this festival! Go figure!

What they lacked in Chinese Food, they made up for in goods. There were lots of booths with Chinese New Year Decorations as well as imported clothing and jewelry from China. There were also Tibetan Prayer Flags (my vote for the best item) and lots of crafts and things for sale by local crafts people. 

The music and fun were going full tilt with a Keiki Chinese Costume Contest, Food demos by the HCC Culinary Arts Program, Thai Chi and Qigong demos, Ben Kali and Friends Music and then ... it started raining!

Long Lines for the Shave Ice!

And the palm weaver always shows up! Notice the hanging hearts he made on the right. 

But by the time I made it home, there was a special treat waiting for me, a Double Rainbow spanning Hilo Bay! See below...

You an see why the state is called the Rainbow State! Now that is what I call a perfect ending to a perfect day!

Chinese New Year in Hilo Part 1: Film Festival

It is the year of the Ox and Hilo celebrated it in a big way. I love our little island city of Hilo and the celebration last weekend was proof again of a community steeped in culture and living in the spirit of Aloha. The events celebrating Chinese New Year in Hilo were all free and all FABULOUS!

Before I start in on the New Year's celebration... I just can't help myself from posting this picture. As I sit at my desk watching another glorious sunrise over Hilo Bay and a Cruise Ship is pulling in, I am reminded once again about how we live in such a very special place.

Now, on with the show...

Last weekend I attended the annual Chinese New Year Celebration which featured the second annual Chinese Film Festival at the Palace Theater (one of our towns pure gems). Starting off at Noon with a Film Production Workshop by Chinese-American film maker and actress Jodi Long . You may recognize Jodi from her performances on Broadway, in The Hot Chick, or Margaret Cho's mother in the film All American Girl, or currently as Eli Stone, a judge on TV.

Ms. Long is now a filmmaker herself, with the help of Christine Choy, the Chair of NYU's Graduate Film and Television Department and Patricia Richardson (of Home Improvement) she has come out with an inspiring documentary called "Long Story Short", about her parents' struggle as Asian American actors/vaudevillians in the 40's and 50's.

The film details the lives of Jodi Long's parents' through photographs, pictures, their special appearance on The Ed Sullivan Show in 1950 and snippets from her own monologue performances. She talks with her mother about the experience of being sent to a Japanese internment camp during WW2. Her father's experience as a Scottish-Chinese-American is shown through the film and his early role on Broadway, in Flower Drum Song, which (the later version) Jodi herself was cast in.

Jodi shared practical advice to Hilo's aspiring and current film makers of various levels. She shared a lot of information about how she and Christine Choy made the yet to be released "Long Story Short". The Longs were a husband and wife nightclub act in the 1940's and 50's and one of the few such Asian acts in America. Jodi shared a great deal of her heart in the film and the group in the workshop was sincerely appreciative of having her there. She answered questions for a very long time and was extremely generous with her knowledge and experiences.

After the workshop, a special viewing of "Long Story Short" was screened at the Palace. The theater was packed with people and there was applause many times throughout the film which was expertly edited with poingnant moments. Long Story Short is an excellent documentary and left me wishing for more of the clips of Larry and Trudie Long dancing and singing on the Ed Sullivan Show. The memories they shared about their experiences in the Asian Night Clubs

Later that evening I went back to the Palace to see another documentary, and before that was the Big Island Shaolin Arts Lion Dance Blessing. Thousands of firecrackers went off to scare off the demons.

The film, :Hollywood Chinese: "The Chinese in American Cinema" was a great retrospective on both the influence of and the contributions of Chinese-American and Chinese film makers and actors over several generations. It also brought to light subjects such as racial representation with many caucasian actors playing Chinese people in the early years. During the silent era, there were a pair of Chinese sisters who made a film in Oakland, CA. The film documented the many films which have been an important part of the American cinematic experience from those first early silent films, to Charlie Chan and many of the "Kung Fu" influenced movies made in the last 20 years. Some of the people interviewed were Ang Lee, Wayne Wang, B.D. Wong, Lisa Lu, Amy Tan and Joan Chen.

Although I was ready for bed, there was a final film; "The Forbidden Kingdom" staring Jackie Chan, Jet Li, Michael Angarano and Crystal Liu. They faced off in the fists a flying, family friendly film while I nodded off to the sounds of the surf back home in my bed.

Coming up next... the Free Hilo Chinese New Year Festival in downtown Hilo, starting at 9 am with another Lion Dance and blessings of local businesses and then marching along to Kalakaua Park...