Right, Jia Chase performs the Little Calico Cats dance.
A New Year celebration gives Mainers a taste of the richness of the culture.
WESTBROOK – The clatter of mah-jongg tiles, the sweet smell of steaming vegetable and pork dumplings and the sound of occasional snatches of Mandarin transformed Westbrook Middle School into Maine’s own Chinatown on Saturday.
More than 1,000 people, many with ties to China, showed up to celebrate the Year of the Dragon, setting a new record at the Chinese & American Friendship Association of Maine’s annual Chinese New Year celebration. The Year of the Dragon is considered the luckiest in the 12-year Chinese zodiac cycle, which may have contributed to the crowd’s festive mood.
Attendees were treated to the association’s Chinese School dance performance featuring dozens of colorfully costumed children, from toddler size and up, a talk by former gubernatorial candidate Eliot Cutler and others on business and educational exchanges between Maine and China, and tables of arts and crafts demonstrations.
Chinese American Friendship Association of Maine 