Even back in Manila and while working in China Town for a few years, I have had my share of dragon dance during the celebration of the Lunar New Year. Even street children join in the festivities.
When we moved here in Vietnam which is largely influenced by the Chinese culture and traditions, well, dragon dances are not only the norm during the Lunar New Year, but also during store openings.
With their festive colors, you can’t help but stop at your tracks and just watch the group of men dancing in perfect synchronicity.
The thundering drums is the perfect accompaniment for such an event.
While this long dragon is the usual —-
Additional shows are included like these kids performing some fight moves —
This is not usual. So it was nice to watch this.
But of course the usual dragon will always be present.
But then you have this!
Dragon pole dance!!! Can you imagine? There were two kids up there!
How? I have no idea!
And then another evolution of the dragon dance is —-
Photo by Oliver Reyes
I guess you have to change the program sometimes, eh?
Photo by Nix Juban
Seen any interesting dragon dance over the new year?
Hello Saigon! 
That’s a lost art here in the Philippines, when a lion has to climb things to reach the prize. The last I saw that climbed the second level of a building to get the red envelope was in the 1990s. The new athletic (kung fu) clubs do not train their lion dancers well.