El Pasoans celebrate Chinese New Year

We’re 29 days into 2017 and the new moon was yesterday, so that means we are officially in the new Chinese lunar year.

The Chinese lunar year starts at the first new moon of the calendar year, but you don’t have to be Chinese to celebrate it, people from all over El Paso were invited to this cultural event.

A lion dance, kung fu, and of course the one thing every culture celebrates with: food.
The El Paso Chinese Baptist Church celebrated the start of the Chinese New Year Sunday. Traditionally the celebrations last 15 days, all the way into the full moon.

Organizers hope people take on the new year with a new perspective

(sot) Ho-Fu Dai, church deacon
“A new beginning, should be with joy and enter into the new year. Don’t just worry about the money, or the opportunity or whatever,” said Ho-Fu Dai, the church deacon.

Children even put on a show explaining the story behind the zodiac. The Jade Emperor calling animals together and holding a race and named after the order in which the animals reached the finish line, the rooster being the tenth, after the goat and monkey.

So what should people keep in mind this year of the rooster?

“Get up in the morning, early morning, the sunrise, so by working you can be self-sufficient and support the family, and also work smarter,” Dai said.