CHINESE TOURISTS EMBRACE UNIQUE LUNAR YEAR EXPERIENCE IN PENANG

GEORGE TOWN, 17 Feb (Bernama) -- The Chinese New Year (CNY) celebration of the Year of the Horse proved to be a refreshing and memorable experience for a group of Chinese tourists who chose to welcome the Lunar New Year in Malaysia, particularly in Penang.

Although the festival is celebrated by Chinese communities worldwide, they described the Malaysian celebration as uniquely vibrant, especially in terms of its cultural diversity and distinctive cuisine.

Student Kai Yuan, 27, who is visiting Malaysia and Penang for the first time with his wife Zhang Yao, also 27, said Penang was the ideal place to celebrate the New Year due to its large and lively Chinese community.

bootstrap slideshow

He was touched by the warmth of the locals and delighted to witness lion dances performed widely across the state.

“In China, lion dances are usually only seen in major cities, and travelling there can take a long time,” he said.

“I’m also drawn to the food here. While it is rooted in Chinese cuisine, the fusion elements give it a unique taste that is quite different from what we have back home.”

He added that he was especially eager to try yee sang, a traditional festive dish that is not commonly available in China.

Meanwhile, businessman Xue Gang, 44, from Xiangzhou, said New Year celebrations in China are typically marked by family dinners and visits to places of worship, making the lively atmosphere in Malaysia a pleasant surprise.

“Here, the celebration feels bigger and more vibrant,” he said, noting that even compared to Thailand, where he had previously celebrated the festival, Malaysia’s cultural presentation stood out as distinctive.

He added that in China, lion dances are generally limited to large cities such as Shanghai, Guangzhou and Fujian.

Travelling with his wife, daughter and friends, Xue observed that younger generations increasingly choose to celebrate with friends or travel abroad instead of returning to their hometowns.

“This year, my parents celebrated in another part of China. Perhaps next year, I’ll bring them here,” he said.

Piano teacher Zhao Zhuo, 35, who is visiting Malaysia for the first time with his mother Wang Lihui, 64, said the most noticeable difference was the cuisine, in addition to the lion dance performances.

“In China, we are more familiar with the dragon dance, and we usually eat dumplings during the New Year. Here, the dishes are different, including yee sang, which we don’t have in our country,” he said during his week-long holiday in Penang.

Earlier, they were among 1,000 guests who were treated to a festive and traditional reception by Shangri-La Rasa Sayang and Shangri-La Golden Sands.

The reception began with a Lion Eye-Dotting ceremony by the Cluster General Manager of both hotels, Jegan Selvarajan, as a symbol of bringing the lion to life and bringing good luck and prosperity.

This was followed by a lion dance parade around the resort, accompanied by the God of Wealth and the God of Laughter. Guests were also entertained with cultural performances, including an acrobatic lion dance, mask-changing act, dragon dance and traditional Chinese acrobatics.

The celebration concluded with a yee sang tossing ceremony, symbolising unity, prosperity and togetherness in welcoming the Lunar New Year.

-- BERNAMA