Dancing lions are roaming London’s streets! 🦁 💃 It’s Chinese New Year, and the traditional ‘lion dance’ is creating quite a buzz. But what’s it all about? CGTN’s Michael Marillier went looking for answers.
#2025 #chinesenewyear #london
#2025 #chinesenewyear #london
Category
🗞
NewsTranscript
00:00Lions are on the loose in London.
00:03We're here in the heart of Chinatown
00:05for the traditional lion dance ceremony.
00:11These lions go from restaurant to restaurant
00:14and from business to business,
00:17offering blessings and prosperity for the year ahead.
00:22The owners will usually come out and greet them,
00:25perhaps offer them some food in return
00:28for the blessings that they offer for the coming year.
00:32It's a big part of the celebration here in London.
00:36I spoke to one of the performers
00:38and asked him what it means to be part of an event like this.
00:44We have performances throughout the whole year,
00:45but this is like our kind of main one.
00:48And we train every Sunday,
00:51and training is quite intense,
00:53but we love to do it
00:56because we all like to come in together and do the sport together.
00:59Now, the lions are not done yet.
01:03They'll also be performing at Trafalgar Square on Sunday.
01:07They're a big part of that event.
01:10And there's the lion dotting ceremony,
01:13where VIPs and dignitaries will put paint above their eyes
01:18marking the start of the new year.
01:22That is all happening on Sunday,
01:24but right now, these lions are roaring in Chinatown.