brothernumber9
05-30-2006, 07:04 AM
This Memorial weekend I went to NYC. While walking around Chinatown on Sunday, My wife and I were going to meet some friends for dim sum at a place on Elizabeth St off of Canal. When we got to the corner of Canal St, and Mott St, I heard a rumbling and clanging that i knew right away was lion dance music.
I thought maybe there was a demo going on, so I tried to pin point it. It wasn't a demo, but a practice. I couldn't see it, but definitely hear it, so I just left for dim sum. After dim sum while walking back, I still heard the music. This time I had to find it out. I thought it was coming from inside a building dirictly on the corner, behind a bill-board-ish sign for a hair salon. I saw a stair case on the side of the building and went up a few floors trying to follow the sound. Then I noticed a gated stair well with the gate slightly ajar. I found myself inside what looked like a small meeting hall of sorts. there were two old guys with their backs to me watching a t.v. I went through a hallway still following the noise to another stair well that took me to the roof. It was On Leong Assoc, practicing lion dance, hok san style, with 2 lions on jongs, the highest being about 7 or 8ft tall. A male team and a female team. They were practicing tricks on the jongs. It was pretty cool. The music was excellent.
Later when walking back to the subway station to go back uptown, I peeped Fu Jow Pai Sifu Wai Hong crossing the street. A lot of people recognized him, even though he was in unassuming clothes and looked like he shaved his mustache.
A half block further I saw Jow Ga Sifu Hoy Lee and his family, likely vacationing as well.
Just a cool little walk around Chinatown.
I thought maybe there was a demo going on, so I tried to pin point it. It wasn't a demo, but a practice. I couldn't see it, but definitely hear it, so I just left for dim sum. After dim sum while walking back, I still heard the music. This time I had to find it out. I thought it was coming from inside a building dirictly on the corner, behind a bill-board-ish sign for a hair salon. I saw a stair case on the side of the building and went up a few floors trying to follow the sound. Then I noticed a gated stair well with the gate slightly ajar. I found myself inside what looked like a small meeting hall of sorts. there were two old guys with their backs to me watching a t.v. I went through a hallway still following the noise to another stair well that took me to the roof. It was On Leong Assoc, practicing lion dance, hok san style, with 2 lions on jongs, the highest being about 7 or 8ft tall. A male team and a female team. They were practicing tricks on the jongs. It was pretty cool. The music was excellent.
Later when walking back to the subway station to go back uptown, I peeped Fu Jow Pai Sifu Wai Hong crossing the street. A lot of people recognized him, even though he was in unassuming clothes and looked like he shaved his mustache.
A half block further I saw Jow Ga Sifu Hoy Lee and his family, likely vacationing as well.
Just a cool little walk around Chinatown.