Nan Hua Temple greeted the Lunar New Year with raucous celebrations where thousands of both Chinese and local South Africans geared up to welcome the Year of the Tiger on Sunday 14^th February 2010. 

         The celebration began with the Lunar New Year Light Offering Dharma Function attended by six hundred people packed into the Main Temple. The Abbot of Nan Hua Temple, Venerable Hui-Fang, spoke about “Awe-inspiring virtue brings vast ocean of prosperity” to encourage the attendees to create good causes and conditions in the year of Tiger to welcome the year of opportunity and overcome any challenges in our way. 

         In the Abbot’s prayer, “At the beginning of this new year, we ask the compassionate Buddha to grant us faith and blessing: may every word we say be compassionate, kind and encouraging; may every action we take may be beneficial to the community and of assistance to the country; may we bring happiness to people, peace on earth and universal rejoicing.” 

        At the courtyard of the Main Temple, the roar of firecrackers marked the start of the colourful Dragon and Lion Dance which, according to Chinese tradition, is meant to ward off evil spirits and bring good fortune and prosperity to everybody. 

        Food plays a vital part in most of the festivities and the Chinese New Year is no exception with over 80 vegetarian foods and gift stalls setup along the corridors at the Main Temple Complex. These festivities remind Chinese people living in South Africa of the New Year markets in the Far East. 

        To celebrate the spirit of cultural diversity during the Chinese New Year, the Temple was proud to present a multi-cultural show in the Nan Hua Guest House featuring talents such as Spanish Dance, Indian Dance, Scottish Pipe Band, New Age Hip-Hop, Martial Art and African Drum. The 3-hours show enthused the audience with a festive, fun and invigorating mix of cultural experience. 

        Various arts and traditional cultural celebrations were presented to the public, such as Chinese tea ceremonies, lantern painting, paper cutting, calligraphy, acupuncture and the traditional golden wishing tree.  

        Other highlights of the celebration included the all-new exhibition on the glamorous traditional Chinese clothing and other items with beautiful hand embroidery. Embroidery is an ancient form of Chinese handicraft. It involves the decoration of a piece of fabric with a needle and coloured thread, as well as other materials such as metal strips, pearls, beads and sequence can also be incorporated. These elegant and beautiful fabrics are created from mere basic stitches performed with a single needle. Embroidery has played an important role in the cultural development of ancient China. 

         The festival reflects the energy and vibrancy of the Buddhist and Chinese community. “It is our intention to promote racial diversity and encourage harmony with different communities in our rainbow country,” says Venerable Hui-Fang.