Lions Dancing at the Mall

My first lodging in Singapore was in Chinatown. Wandering up and down the Chinatown Pedestrian Mall, I was mesmerized by the many beautiful goods that were available - exquisite patterned clothes, decorative lanterns and fans, and embroidered bags of all shapes and sizes. There was one thing I wanted out of all those little shops - a tourist-kitschy, dragon marionette.

Well, at least I thought it was a dragon. So about a month and a half ago, my friend J. and I decided to go to Chinatown and buy that "dragon." Right before we left to go buy it, I started doing some research about it (I occasionally like to be an informed consumer!).That dragon turned out to be a lion and not just any lion, but a "lion dance" lion. (Hey, according to Wikipedia, a lot of people make that mistake (Wikipedia - Lion Dance)). Even though it wasn't a dragon, I still thought the puppet was cool, so we bought it anyway.

A few days later, a fortuitous coincidence occurred. It was a weekday and J. and I had just had lunch. We were going to catch the train home when we heard a commotion down the block. As we rounded the bend, we saw a large crowd assembled around two lion dancers. It was the opening of J Avenue, a new section in the JCube Mall. The Chinese believe that the lion dance is very auspicious. So it's often performed when new businesses open or during the Chinese New Year to bring good fortune and prosperity. Here's our video from that day. Enjoy!