The Lion Dance has been popularly exists in the Chinese culture for thousands of years. It is performed on various festive and celebration of auspicious occasions such as official opening of business and house warming. The Lion Dance performance is believed to bring prosperity and good luck to business and household.

The Chinese Lion, which are far different from the real ones, is a symbol of protection, authority, wisdom, and good fortune. You can find sculpture of Lions place in the frontage of temples, houses and buildings for these purposes.

The Lion Dance is normally performed together with musical ensemble consisting of a large drum, a gong and sets of cymbals. The rhythm is an expression of the mood and movement of the Lion. The loud music is meant to dispel evil and bringing good fortune.

In some performance, you may also find 1 or 2 Buddha wearing painted mask with large smile teasing the Lion.

The highlight of the Lion Dance is known as “Choi Cheng” or “Picking the Green” (direct translate to English). This is done by hanging the lettuce and red packet containing money above the door of the premise. The Lion will perform stunt to reach the “green” and “chew” it. After which, the Lion will split out the leaves which signify abundance wealth from all directions and good fortune in year to come.

Mandarin oranges are included in the performance during the Lunar New Year. The Lion will “peel” the oranges and use the pedal of the fruits to assemble into patterns as a symbol of blessing or auspicious Chinese character. Coconuts, live crabs and even fish are sometimes used for the performance. Each is suppose to symbolize something auspicious.