The CNY parade must be one of the highlights in Sydney's annual calendar, judging by the thousands of people lining the streets and by the political figures taking part.
The parade features dozens of groups, mainly locally based Chinese organisations. More impressive than the groups' spectacularly colourful displays was the depth of Chinese community groups taking part.
There were geographically based groups (Sydney-Shanghai and Sydney-Guangzhou organisations), educational and youth groups (school talents, parents of disabled children, Chinese Youth Organisation), media groups (TV's, newspapers, radios), cultural groups (dance etc) and also business groups.
This breadth of organisations and social groups is indicative of a few interesting facts.
-Chinese groups seem to be very well organised among themselves and quite engaged in social activities.
-The Chinese population however doesnt just seem to be active among themselves, but there are also quite a number of Australia-Chinese societies and groups.
-It would be interesting to know whether the more active groups are linking Australia with Mainland China or other countries/regions such as Taiwan, Malaysia or Singapore.
- the sheer size of the parade was astonishing and is indicative of the societal, cultural and geographical ties of Australia and the wider Chinese communities.
This year, the parade enjoyed the presence of the guest city, Chongqing, the largest, and mostly unknown city in the centre of China. Their representatives presented colourful displays with lanterns and the much-loved dragon shows (above to the left).
For the first time, the Chinese communities were also joined by the Vietnamese and the Korean communities, who also celebrate (lunar) new year at the same time. This was a significant move, as it gives the parade a more pan-Asian flavour and includes other important Asian communities.
Not only did the festival show that the Asian communities in Sydney are active and show enthusiastic presence, but it also demonstrated the general curiousness of Sydneysiders towards this festival. They have somewhat adopted it as their own, judging from the amount of Caucasian Australian families, coming out to show their children the parade.
Perhaps one of the most striking symbols of the interconnectedness of Australia and Asia was the presence of the Chinese Australian war veteran organisation with a handful of elderly men, who fought in the many wars of the last century, proudly displaying their medals and waving Australian flags.
