Best places to visit over Chinese New Year
Chinese New Year is considered the most important celebration not only for Chinese people living in China, but also for people of Chinese descent all over the world.
This year, Chinese New Year falls on Feb. 19 and welcomes the Year of the Goat.
Having a more than 4,000-year history, Chinese New Year — also known as the Spring Festival — is a time for whole families to reunite and celebrate the hope that spring will bring more prosperity throughout the coming year.
Usually lasting around two weeks, the event is celebrated by Chinese people and those of Chinese ethnicity in many parts of Indonesia with a variety of festivities.
With Chinese New Year falling on Thursday, Feb. 19, those taking the Friday off work will have a 4-day long weekend and the opportunity to travel and take part in many interesting Chinese New Year celebrations in cities across the archipelago.
Following are four cities where one can experience Chinese New Year celebrations.
Surakarta
You can expect special entertainment if you spend Chinese New Year weekend in Surakarta (Solo).
Head to Pasar Gede and you will find the area beautifully decorated with red lanterns that add to the Chinese New Year atmosphere.
The Solo Imlek Festival will be held all day long on Feb. 19 at the western and northern area of Fort Vastenburg and around Pasar Gede. You can find various kinds of Chinese cuisine and specialty cakes, such as moon cake and basket cake as well as other kinds of Chinese culinary delights.
Visitors can also watch wushu and lion dance performances during the festival. A Cheong Sam fashion show, modern dance and Potehi puppet show are usually part of the festivity too.
The Imlek Festival, kicks off with Grebeg Sudiro, a festive march with mountains of basket cakes are paraded along the streets around Sudiroprajan and ends in front of Tien Kok Sie Temple. The imlek celebration usually ends with the lighting of lanterns that are then hung over the gate of Pasar Gede.
Semarang
The celebration of Chinese New Year in Semarang is usually centered around Pasar Semawis and Sam Poo Kong Pagoda.
Pasar Semawis is a chinatown night market in Semarang that is held annually at Chinese New Year. This year, Pasar Imlek Semawis includes a bazaar and an open stage. The stage presents a variety of peranakan Chinese art performances such as a potehi puppet show, gambang Semarang (Semarang traditional xylophone), lion dance, wushu, Chinese drums and many other performances.
Pasar Imlek Semawis was first held in 2004 following the enactment of Chinese New Year as a public holiday. Pasar Semawis is located on Jl. Gang Warung, Semarang and you can please your palate with various peranakan dishes such as ifu mie (deep fried noodles), lontong cap gomeh (mixed curry served with rice cakes), swikee (frog leg soup), Hainan chicken rice and much more.
On the eve of Chinese New Year' as well as on the first day of the new year, you can also visit the Sam Poo Kong Pagoda on Jl. Simongan Raya. The big pagoda is said to be the second liveliest place to celebrate Chinese New Year after Pasar Semawis.
Red lanterns and red paper swatches containing prayers are hung from the pagoda main temple's ceiling. In the evening, a wayang kulit (leather puppet) show with stories about Chinese admiral Cheng Ho is performed in the pagoda's courtyard.
Jakarta
The capital city of Jakarta also offers interesting Chinese New Year festivities, especially around Petak Sembilan, Glodok.
Approaching Chinese New Year, Petak Sembilan is filled with shops selling lanterns and Chinese New Year sweets such as dried plums and gold chocolate coins.
A few Chinese temples that you can visit around Petak Sembilan are Kim Tek Le, Jin De Yuan, and Lie Tek Kwai. Besides temples, you can also visit Chinese drug store Karti Djaja, which sells an array of traditional Chinese medicine. Here one can buy rujak juhi (salted cuttlefish, fried tofu, cucumber and potatoes with spicy peanut sauce) or rujak Shanghai (boiled octopus and sea cucumber with vegetables served in thick sweet and sour sauce), which are sold at Petak Sembilan.
On Chinese New Year, lion dances and Chinese drum groups can be seen performing on the streets and from house to house around Petak Sembilan. End your journey with a Chinese and Peranakan culinary adventure along Gang Gloria.
Singkawang
Located 145 kilometers from West Kalimantan's capital Pontianak, Singkawang is referred to as the city of 1,000 pagodas.
Historically, the city was a part of the Sambas sultanate and has a strong presence of Indonesian-Chinese as a result of a gold fever that attracted many Chinese people to Kalimantan in days gone by.
Chinese New Year celebrations in Singkawang are held annually and are usually centered at Kridasana Stadium. During the celebrations, the stadium transforms into Mei Hwa flower garden with red lanterns stung up everywhere.
What is unique about Chinese New Year celebrations in Singkawang is the Tatung tradition held on Cap Go Meh. It is a ritual to ward off evil spirits and involves men who are possessed by ancestral spirits. These men are called Tatung. The spirits pervading Tatung bodies are believed to be good spirits invoked by a preacher to help ward off evil spirits.
Besides the lion dance and cultural attractions, you can also visit Pasar Hong Kong, a night food market selling local and peranakan traditional treats. Pasar Hong Kong only opens at night along Jl. Bawal.
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