The Casa de Campo community welcomes the year of the snake at Chinois!

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Happy Chinese New Year! Last Friday the 8th of February the Casa de Campo community gathered at Chinois restaurant in the Marina Casa de Campo to welcome the Year of the Snake – with a traditional Chinese feast and the “Dance of the Dragon”. As one of Casa de Campo’s most popular festive occasions – more than 200 people joined in the fun! Whilst many Casa de Campo villa owners took the occasion as an opportunity to to indulge in a little Chinese food with friends – others seized the occasion as a chance to dress up – and dress up they did! Casa de Campo villa owner, Eunises Mendez and her entire family (as well as a few fun-loving friends) attended the dinner in full costume – in a range of coloured Chinese dresses, traditional hats and even thematic make-up! In the midst of dinner, the sound of drums broke through the clatter of chopsticks, signalling the start of the magical “dance of the lions” – often also called the “dance of the dragon”. Two long red winding dragon danced and swayed between the dining tables at Chinois and to the applause of the crowd, 2 smaller more elaborately dressed lions bounded their way around the restaurant, posing for photos and rearing their giant sequined heads in dance and celebration.

The dance of the dragons in the Plaza Portofino, Marina Casa de Campo

This traditional ritual was originally a respectful ceremony for the dead, as well as a plea for rain – but nowadays the ritual is performed at many festive occasions to ward off evil spirits. The dance is also meant to bring positive energy, prosperity, happiness and abundance. Another important aspect of the ritual is the lighting of the incense in honor of our ancestors – as well as the giving out of the small red envelopes with a 1 peso coin – something which is meant to bring both luck and wealth.

This year even more people came than last year, every year we keep growing. People even came from Santo Domingo! We do it every holiday so it’s something people expect and look forward to. Thank you to La Enoteca and Limoncello – who helped us out with the service, it was a great help and was a very nice gesture on their part. Next year we will have a set menu to make the service easier. We are very happy and thankful to the community and our clients. There were many children – it’s a great activity for the whole family.

— Susana Joa, owner of Chinois in the Marina Casa de Campo

The year of the snake! This year of the snake corresponds to the element of water. In Chinese astrology, the snake is considered a sacred animal, related to good fortune, and wisdom. This is the year when all the negative energy accumulated in 2012 will become positive – creating peace. Now that is something to celebrate! The following photos taken during the Chinese New Year celebration at Chinois on Friday the 8th of February 2013 were contributed by Eunises Mendez: