It’s Chinese New Year this weekend, welcoming the fire rooster year, and Rassi’s celebrating it. Much like Idul Fitri, Chinese New Year – also known, as Imlek or Sincia in Indonesia – is a time to spend with family, commemorate ancestors, pray for a good year, eat delicious food, and, for children, keeping eyes on those red angpaos. 

It’s a fun celebration to be part of, even if you don’t personally celebrate the occasion. Rassi’s giving you her thoughts on what you can do to join the festive vibe.

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1. Go to the Chinatown

A couple week before and after the actual new year, the place would be filled with vibe. You can really tell a celebration is on the go: the shops will be even more lively in red, Chinese songs playing on the background, assorted food seems to be even more irresistible.

Try to ask around the aunties and uncles of the area, the local community may be having some sort of communal entertainment like a barongsai and the exquisite dragon dance, if you’re lucky.

Just make sure to be very ready with the crowd who are actually there with a purpose: to shop and ensure they get enough any  incense, candles, oranges, snacks, and angapo they for the day.

Jakarta’s Chinatown, Glodok, will be a great destination. It’s close to the Old Town area too, so you can get a day of excursion of the area. You can also stop by at Olveh Building (pictured above), just right across the Kota Train Station to visit Semasa Café and Shop where a selected collection of Seumpama books are available. *wink*.

2. Klenteng

Klenteng is the place where people practice Konghucu – also known as Confucianism, the teaching of Confucius. If you have a Chinatown area in your city, chances are they would have a Klenteng that you can visit.

In Jakarta, for years my parents and I went to Glodok’s Klenteng Kim Tek Ie on Chinese New Year’s eve. We don’t practice Khonghucu, but we really enjoy the vibe there: burnt incense, people praying to gods and goddesses, red lanterns on the alley that leads to the Klenteng, lit candles giving dramatic view to the already exquisite architecture.

Being one of the oldest klenteng in the city, it’s one of the more popular too. The Klenteng caught on fire a couple years ago and had had a more modest Imlek during the rebuilding in the past couple of years.

Tangerang’s Kelenteng Boen Tek Bio is also a great visit. I went there last year. In the past couple of years, it’s more lively and crowded there. The exquisite architectural façade is such a treat. The area is also popular for its street food market at night. So you culinary roamers would find even more reason to go.

I also know for sure Padang has a breathtaking Klenteng in its Old Town area. I went there not long ago and was amazed by their Klenteng. It’s beautiful. I’m pretty sure being there on Chinese New Year would be such a treat. (The Klenteng also house an internationally acclaimed Barongsai Team too. People of Padang, I envy you.)

Going to Klenteng on New Years eve usually becomes a photo-op night. Do converse with the Klenteng’s staff to help you with what you can or cannot do when people are praying. The Klentengs are mostly open for visitors. On any given days, one can usually go to different part where people pray to the gods and goddesses. But it gets really busy on Chinese New Year, so expect a bit more rules imposed at the premises. Usually people gives charity to the less fortunate people too, so you may see a group of waiters looking forward to the generosity of those who come and pray.

If you are keen to know more about the site, plan to come on a quieter day.

3. Eat

Every family would have their own new year’s specialty. It usually involves fish and noodle, the embodiment of wealth and health. My family always have them on the table, but we also add Sayur Asem or Lontong Cap Gomeh because it’s a family favourite. We basically it anything we want to eat, because eating is caring, right?

The only thing I was told not to eat is congee/ porridge. I once brought some friends to the Chinatown on Chinese New Year’s Eve. For a full Imlek celebration they wanted to have dinner in the Chinatown area too, but the only place that were still open late enough was a chain congee restaurant. So we ate there. It was only the next morning that I knew that congee symbolizes lack of wealth – as the dish is one even the poor can afford. With the piholosophy that the food you eat reflects what you wish for the next year, having congee was a lousy idea. A good thing I brought some oranges with me and had unconsciously forced everyone in the group to have it. I gave them the antidote they needed without me knowing it.

If your friend is hosting a Chinese New Year Day at their house, do ask them if you can come. They will be excited to welcome you and have you spend your time with their families too.

4. Explore 

Go to your city’s Chinatown and explore its alley, they usually have a lot of interesting alley with years of stories in every corner. I found that in each city’s Chinatown usually had been around from the colonial era, so you can enjoy not only their current state, but the remnants of its old days and its contribution to the local struggle pre and post independence era.

Close to Tangerang’s Pasar Lama you can find the Benteng Heritage Museum, located in a house that was built in the 17^th Century and had been restored to provide the Chinese Benteng narrative that rooted deep in the area. It’s not too far from Klenteng Boen Tek Bio, but it’s usually close on Mondays. I haven’t really seen many sites that dedicate themselves to Peranakan Culture in Jakarta, so it was quite a treat for me.

This year I went to a Tiga Negeri Peranakan exhibition at Dia.lo.gue Kemang, and it was amazing. Edward Hutabarat, Didi Budiardjo, and Adrian Gan team up to display their collection of Tiga Negeri Batik, embodying the assimilation of Chinese to the Indonesian culture through fashion, design, and craftsmanship. Pieces of personal collection of fabrics, accessories, embroideries, and furniture were on display. I’ve been recommending it to everyone I know: it’s a must-go.

Tiga Negeri Peranakan is at Dia.lo.gue Kemang until February 5^th, 2017.

5. Read the Story

Of course, how can you not? My personal selections are the Chinese Peranakan series that my father had collected from years back, Remy Silado’s Ca Bau Kan, Amy Tan’s Joy Luck Club for an American perspective of the Chinese culture assimilation, which I feel reflects my family dynamics, Falling Leaves from Adeline Yen Mah, and Seumpama carries one copy of Da Sijie’s Balzac and The Chinese Seamstress, which both Ninit and I love. 

Of course, how can you not? My personal selections are the Chinese Peranakan series that my father had collected from years back, Remy Silado’s Ca Bau Kan, Amy Tan’s Joy Luck Club for an American perspective of the Chinese culture assimilation, which I feel reflects my family dynamics, Falling Leaves from Adeline Yen Mah, and Seumpama carries one copy of Da Sijie’s Balzac and The Chinese Seamstress, which both Ninit and I love. 

If you can’t do any of the above mentioned activity this weekend, don’t worry. The Chinese New Year span for a couple of week and ends with the Cap Go Meh on the fifteenth day. There will usually be celebrations on that day too, so you can prepare yourself for that. In some places it’s even a bigger festival than Imlek itself. (I went to Singkawang’s Cap Go Meh celebration a couple years ago, and it was rad.)

I’ve grown celebrating Chinese New Year all my life, but every year I always find a new way to tribute to the ocassion. I love it when I bring my friends who don’t celebrate, to celebrate because it always end with great conversations. I wish you have a chance to immerse in cultural exploration and conversation this Chinese New Year. Have a great time and I wish you all the best this coming fire rooster year. Xin nian khuai le!

Images are personal collection of Rassi Narika. Image of Olveh Building is taken from Semasa di Kota Tua’s Instagram account.