It starts with two sharp cracks on the side of a large drum, and then a deep guttural drum roll that signifies the start of one of the world’s oldest traditions.
“When those drums start playing, I feel a really strong sense of familiarity, and I would say a sense of home,” says Gabriel Yakub, a member of the Australian Eastern Traditional Centre in Sydney.
“I’ve just heard it so many times, learned to play a little myself and had so much fun connecting with friends and the group during rehearsals and performances over the years,” Yakub told The Epoch Times.
Each Lunar New Year, Asia bears witness to the “world’s largest annual migration” as workers rush home to their families and hometowns, in the West, another type of rush occurs and that’s to the closest Chinatown or suburb with a large Asian population.
The rush begins this year on Feb. 16, the eve of Lunar New Year and will last for two weeks across places like New York City’s Flushing, Toronto’s Markham, Melbourne’s Box Hill, and Sydney’s Haymarket.
Besides firecrackers, food, and lucky red packets, dragon and lion dances form an integral and sought-after part of the event.
