Albuquerque didn't always have a Chinese New Year celebration.
"We started in 1990 because every year around Chinese New Year time, we get a lot of calls," Chinese Cultural Center owner Synthia Lin said. "People wanted to know if there was a place to go for the Chinese New Year celebration. Unfortunately, there wasn't any public event. So, we said, 'Well, why don't we hold one? And everyone can come.'"
The Chinese New Year begins today. The cultural center will celebrate the year of the rat with a
Lin and her husband Sifu Charles Lin opened the center in 1974. It was next to the Lobo Theater on Central Avenue. Lin said her husband wanted to devote his time to martial arts.
"We were thinking, 'What can we do?' Well, we could name it Chinese Cultural Center and do as much as we can to bring the culture," she said. "Because at the time - the 1970s - there were very few Chinese here."
Lin said the celebration grows every year.
"It's getting bigger and bigger," she said. "We try to put up new programs, adding new things every year. So, we have a lot of regulars that come every year. It's really exciting. Some of them have watched my kids grow up."
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Barbara Cohen has been a student at the center for 20 years. She practices Tai Chi and is a drummer in the Chinese New Year performance.
Cohen said the center keeps her sane.
"Whatever else happens in my life, exercise is a good thing," she said. "If I didn't do this, I probably wouldn't do anything else at all."
Cohen said the function of the drum team is to lead and inspire.
"It feels very much like the gardener that nurtures a garden and watches it grow," she said. "We watch our school grow. We watch our students grow. We have students that have been with us since they were this high, and now they're taller than me. That's very rewarding. It's like a family."
Tai Chi student and drummer Gail Rubin has attended classes at the center for four years. She said she decided to take classes after she saw a drum performance.
"I saw them playing at the state fair, and I was like, 'That is so cool. I want to do that,'" she said. "They were having such a good time warming up the crowd. I was like, 'I could do that.'"
Bill Doleman has been a student at the center for more than 20 years. He is often an announcer for the center's events. This year he will participate in a lion dance, as well.
In the dance, acrobats in lion costumes imitate the animal's movements. The costumes are often large and operated by more than one person.
Doleman said the major function of the lion dance is to chase evil spirits away.
"You'll notice that (the lion puppets) each have a little mirror at the top (of their heads). The Chinese use mirrors to deflect evil spirits," he said.
Lion dancers chase evil spirits away by performing acrobatics, as well.
"In China, you'll see them climbing ladders and doing all kinds of wild things," he said. "We get up on platforms and hang people off the edge of it."
Doleman said the center has six new lion costumes this year.
"This is their first show," he said. "The big black one that I use has been around for over 20 years. He's kind of beat up, and I take him home and doctor him. He's had a lot of plastic surgery."
Chinese New Year Celebration
Saturday
1 p.m.
Chinese Cultural Center
427 Adams St. S.E.
Free performance Saturday.
Photos by Vanessa Sanchez / Daily Lobo
