February 1st marked the beginning of the Chinese Lunar New Year. Last week, Afford’s Albion Park Community Centre clients headed to the Nan Tien Buddhist Temple to join the local festivities and share their dreams with the wishing tree.
Our community centres encourage clients to celebrate meaningful traditions and understand more about the diverse cultures that make up our communities.
“The Nan Tien temple was a great way for the clients to celebrate different cultures and learn more about other traditions. They were able to experience a different way of life for a day,” said Acting Team Leader, Nicole Vidovic.
The temple was buzzing with excitement for the new year and a range of unique activities to mark the occasion.
“The clients got to throw a red ribbon on the wishing tree, throw coins in the wishing pond and hit the gong which made a beautiful sound,” continued Nicole.
Chinese wishing trees, also called hong bao trees, are essential in new year traditions. Everyone is encouraged to wish for happiness and prosperity when they throw their ribbon into the tree and legend says their wish will come true if it sticks. The ribbon is red as the colour represents luck, joy and happiness in Chinese culture.
“They finished the day off by enjoying a big vegetarian banquet and delicious dessert at the café,” said Nicole.
The 2022 Chinese Zodiac is the tiger which traditionally represents strength and bravery. Albion Park clients are looking forward to channelling that energy in 2022 and this day was the first of many adventures to come.
Learn more about Afford Community Centres and how you can discover more about the different cultures that exist in Australia.
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