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Video: Dragon, lions, drums usher in Lunar New Year in Seattle’s International District

With my son at my side, I turned on my digital camera, switched to video mode and captured Saturday’s Lunar New Year celebration in Seattle’s Chinatown International District.

It was terrific – bringing back memories and giving my son a chance to see what I saw in San Francisco and Oakland Chinatowns when I was a kid.

My grandparents lived in those Chinatowns and my parents would take my sister and me to celebrate and watch the colorful, loud street performances.

My wife was shopping for vegetables. But my son and I hurried out the store and made our way to the district’s Chinatown Gate, where martial arts master Mak Fai and his group brought out their best lions and dragon to welcome the Year of the Tiger and scare off the bad spirits.

I’ve never talked with Mak Fai – who was featured in some great drawings by Seattle Times artist Gabriel Campanario. But he’s a colorful character – he’s easy to spot in his red track suit and red hair in the video – and can be seen at restaurants and stores.

As you probably know, red is a lucky color for ethnic Chinese – particularly during Lunar New Year.

I like the fact that it was a down-home event.

Catch the guy in the video who is walking around with orange plugs in his ear to block out the thump, thump of the big drums and the clang, clang of the cymbals.

My son’s eyes lit up when he saw the colorful lions dancing before us and the long, orange-and-gold dragon swirl around.

I do like the martial arts dancers – especially the person wearing the Buddha mask. The person does a nice hand twirl and later engages in some foot or leg dancing with one of the lion performers.

Toward the end, the gold lion walked toward us. A child was a few feet away and the lion dancers decided to stoop down and send their greetings.

And the animal’s eyes and ears fluttered.

The adults near the lion piped up with hoots of joy and excitement.

You’ll also spot a television cameraman, a professional, walk through the video frame.

When I was a full-time journalist, I used to show up in the International District to cover events and dig around for interesting stories – such as an herbalist who once worked in the neighborhood.

These days, it’s safe to say, in many regards, that I’m a citizen journalist. I’m a former professional journalist.

But I am a citizen. And I do practice journalism when I can.

But I’d show up at events such as this to observe and soak up the atmosphere, regardless of whether I practiced professional, citizen or any form of journalism.

Hey, I’m Asian American. My wife and I also want our son to know the meaning of Lunar New Year – and realize that the world is a big and colorful place.

And just how colorful is Mak Fai?

Well, on his martial arts club Web site, he’s posted a photograph of himself with Gil Kerlikowske, Seattle’s former police chief who now works for the White House.

Mak Fai also calls himself – or at least his club – the “King of the Lion Dance.”

And Seattle-area residents might recognize the building in the background of the video as the American Hotel, which is the new Hostelling International building and offers affordable beds to travelers.