Lion Dancers Bless Small Businesses in Vancouver’s Mount Pleasant BIA
- Jonathan Lee
- Feb 23
- 5 min read
Updated: 2 days ago
For the second straight year, Chau Luen Athletics performed lion dances for the hardworking businesses all along Main Street in Vancouver. This time, the lion dances extended for 20 blocks, stretching from Broadway and Main all the way to 29th Avenue.
Local businesses were treated to traditional lion dance blessings, or Choy Cheng (採青) provided by Chau Luen Athletics, alongside their friends at Hoy Ping Athletics and UBC Kung Fu.
As is the case with all of our free public performances, it was rewarding to come out to the community and showcase our skills free of charge for spectators and bless all of the small businesses that really make Vancouver shine.
Lion dance stage show at Sun Hop Park
We started at Sun Hop Park (near Main Street and 18th Avenue), putting on a performance for a large and eager audience. Hundreds of people of all ages (including some friendly dogs) attended and watched in awe as some of our more senior students showcased some advanced movements.
The show started with an eye dotting ceremony, where Sifu Mike Tan guided community leaders through the traditional practice.
The VIPs included Vancouver City Councillors Mike Klassen, Lisa Dominato, Sarah Kirby-Yung, Lenny Zhou, and Rebecca Bligh, alongside MLA Christine Boyle and members of the Mount Pleasant BIA.
All four lions, including one from our sibling club, Hoy Ping Athletics, then began an impressive synchronized routine, including some aerial acrobatics.
We then all took some time to interact with the crowd, letting them take photos with the lions, pet them, and ask questions about lion dancing. We even had brought out the God of Fortune (財神爺) to interact with the kids and hand out goodies.
Blessing each business along Vancouver’s Main Street
Once the main show concluded, our team began our trip up and down Main Street, starting at a popular Vietnamese restaurant, Anh and Chi. Looking to give our team a challenge, each head of lettuce and red pocket was hung high up in the air, so we sent some of our more experienced members in.
Here, they performed a high lift to get the required height to snag the lettuce before showering it everywhere to bless the business with good fortune for the coming year.
After Anh and Chi, we moved on to other businesses, restaurants, retailers, and shops in the Mount Pleasant corridor. These included:
Thierry,
49th Parallel,
COBS Bread,
Heritage Hall,
El Camino’s
Good Thief, and
Blumen Florals.
With the wide variety of stores along this kaleidoscopic neighbourhood, we found a few fun photo highlights that made this choy cheng memorable.
Here’s our lion taking a quick “break” at bed, a popular bedding retailer that makes all of their linens by hand. Look how comfortable it is!
Our lion dancers met some ballet dancers for a cultural exchange of sorts at Goh Ballet. This was a fun one because we danced together in their studio – most people will never get to see this in their lifetime!
Our final stop was at Kwong Chow Congee & Noodle House, who had one last treat, fresh out of the wok, for our lion to pounce on.
Why we perform choy cheng (plucking of the greens)
While people enjoy watching lion dances for their entertainment value, we also perform them to keep Chinese cultural practices alive. In Chinese tradition, lion dances are said to drive away evil spirits and bring good fortune.
For the businesses along Main Street, we performed a choy cheng (plucking of the greens) ceremony for each business, to symbolically bless each storefront with good business for the coming year.
There are three main reasons why we perform these ceremonies, two of which are rooted in tradition.
Driving away evil spirits
The thunderous percussion from our drum, cymbals, and gong is said to drive away malevolent forces. Each lion is also designed to keep misfortune away as well through the way it’s crafted. The horn is used as its principal weapon, while mirrors are said to scare off evil spirits when they see their reflection.
All of this combined is said to chase away the demons of the past year for a fresh (and hopefully prosperous) start for the coming year.
Ushering in prosperity, wealth, and success
Lettuce is the highlight of every choy cheng routine. Every performance, the lions will grab it, chew it up, and shower it over the business owners, their guests, and the cash register area.
In Chinese, lettuce represents wealth and growth. The word for lettuce in Cantonese is pronounced as choy (菜), and the word for fortune is also pronounced as choy (財) – it’s the same word, but because Chinese languages are tonal, the difference in tone sets them apart. It’s not just a bad dad joke – these “puns” are common throughout Chinese languages and cultures.
When the lions shower the lettuce through the air, it represents the sharing of fortune, wealth, and abundance to everyone involved. It also makes for a spectacular photo or social media post!
Bringing the neighborhood together
Aside from Chinese superstition, the modern reason why we keep this tradition alive for local BIAs is to bring neighbourhood businesses and Vancouverites together. The Lunar New Year is all about getting together and sharing.
Bringing people who may have just seen an electrifying stage show to discover their new favourite retailer, restaurant, or business directly drives business to the area. The sharing of exciting performances on social media and creating buzz also brings more eyes to the area.
It’s especially helpful as many people who watch the stage show follow us along our parade route to take photos and may pop into a shop for a bite to eat or to browse some of the cool things being sold, especially in a street as diverse as Main Street.
Together, it’s not just about a blessing of wealth, but a unique marketing opportunity!
It’s never too early to book your own lion dance!
Performing business blessings for shopping malls, BIAs, and neighbourhoods is one of the things that Chau Luen Athletics is known for and a type of performance we look forward to every year.
As our club continues to grow, we are taking on longer routes and increasing the number of neighbourhoods and shopping centres that we perform business-to-business choy chengs for. If you know someone involved in a local BIA or shopping mall, or are a business looking for a private lion dance performance, contact us today for your no-obligation discovery call. We hope to bring a memorable experience to your shop’s front door in the near future!