• Zen Dragon Boat Club paddlers, Judy Roberson, Silvia Graf, Sue Mikus, Michelle Dawson, Mandy Ferguson, Judy McBain, Sue Wakefield, John Mikus, Alison Mudie, Sue Clift, Sharon Tapscott, Kerrie Duff and Thea Talbot celebrated the Year of the Snake.
Zen Dragon Boat Club paddlers took the opportunity to celebrate the arrival of the Year of the Snake on Sunday, February 10 with a social paddle which had a definite Chinese flavour to it.
Chinese lanterns decked the boat and most wore some red, a colour considered to be lucky by Chinese astrologers. The team launched the boat at Top Lake and paddled under the bridge through to Merimbula Lake. Rumour has it there were snakes in the boat but they came out of a packet rather than slithering their way on board to join the paddlers.
Over 1.3 billion people in China and millions of Chinese around the world celebrated the first day of the Chinese New Year.
It’s the most important of Chinese holidays, kicking off a celebration that lasts for 15 days and culminates with the Lantern Festival. Each year is associated with one of 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac. For 2013, sees the arrival of the Year of the Snake and the departure of 2012’s Year of the Dragon. In Chinese astrology the snake of 2013 is governed by the element of water making it more moderate and humble than would be expected.
Gong Xi Fa Ca! is the traditional Chinese New Year greeting that means “wishing you prosperity” in Mandarin.