CHICAGO (WBBM NEWSRADIO) — Chicago’s Chinatown held the biggest show in the city on Sunday with its annual Lunar New Year celebration.
The streets of Chinatown were completely packed with many thousands of Chicagoans who came out to celebrate the Year of the Dragon, year 4722. Dancing teams, traditional Chinese dragons, floats, marching bands and more had those in attendance craning their necks to get the best look of the parade.
Chicagoan Patrick Eberle said he’s been coming to the parade for years and this was the most crowded he’s ever seen it.
“At least 10 times more crowded,” he said. “I’m thinking it’s the weather; [for the] last few years, it’s been really cold. Maybe people are getting out after COVID, finally.”
Sunday’s parade was one of multiple Lunar New Year celebrations that took place in Chicago over the weekend. Saturday’s parade along Argyle Street in Uptown brought large crowds to the predominantly southeast Asian business corridor. There, traditional lion dancers stopped in front of many of the shops — a tradition meant to bring luck and prosperity throughout the Year of the Dragon.
Also taking place this weekend: Members of Chicago’s local Taiwanese, Tibetan, and HongKonger communities gathered to celebrate their unique traditions inside Bridgeport’s HongKonger Community Center, located near West 35th and South Morgan Streets.
The community center serves to give people from these places a spot to come together and talk about similarities between their relationships with mainland China and the Chinese government. This type of open discussion and criticism can draw punishment In places like Hong Kong and Tibet, these conversations are the kinds of things that can draw punishment, said organizer Eleanor Luck.
“Not always, the history is bright and shiny,” said Luk. “We all have the painful history, but that’s how each culture, each nation, can grow.”
Similarities in current events have brought the local Taiwanese and Ukrainians into these discussions, as each community looks for a way forward, including warning the world that the trend of larger powers taking control of smaller sovereign democracies is a global issue.
“We don’t want to divide pro-Hong Kong versus pro-China,” Luk said. “We are not here to tell people to vote for Republicans or Democrats, but we want to have the platform to show the facts, the truth, the history because I think that is what is important. We know the history; we know what’s right and wrong; we decide ourselves, and that’s how we grow.”
Although they’re concerned about overbearing control from mainland China, Chinese traditions are deeply ingrained in the cultures of those gathered at the HongKonger Center. Their Lunar New Year celebration included traditional Chinese dance, music, martial arts — while also focusing on their respective languages, arts and distinct foods.
WBBM's Brandon Ison contributed to this report.
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