Tag: cny

Chinese New Year in Penang: Miaohui Festival 2025

The Penang Miaohui, a prominent cultural festival, celebrated its 26th anniversary on the 1st of February in George Town, Penang. The event, themed “Penang Lang, Let’s Celebrate,” attracted over 200,000 visitors. Organized by the Penang Chinese Clan Council, the festival featured 23 traditional organizations and 90 cultural associations, offering activities such as traditional cuisine, handicrafts, ancestral stories, and performing arts as well as over 120 local food vendors and more than 50 interactive cultural booths were present, providing a diverse range of experiences for attendees.

Miaohui (庙会), meaning “Temple Fair” in Chinese, is a traditional cultural festival often associated with Chinese New Year celebrations. It features various cultural performances, exhibitions, traditional food, handicrafts, and ancestral heritage activities. In Malaysia, particularly in Penang, the Penang Miaohui is a large-scale annual event showcasing Chinese heritage through interactive booths, performances, and community engagement, attracting thousands of visitors.

Gurney Plaza : 2025 Chinese New Year Festive Display

Gurney Plaza shopping mall welcomes the auspicious Year of the Snake this Chinese Lunar New Year with a theme called “The Timeless Reunion”. It features a stunning transformation of its central atrium into a vibrant little town square. Surrounded by beautifully crafted heritage townhouse facades, the festive setup is adorned with colorful lanterns and artificial red cherry blossom trees along with scenes from the festive season, creating a captivating celebration of the new year.

Queensbay Mall : 2025 Chinese New Year Festive Display

Queensbay Mall in Penang is celebrating Chinese New Year with its “Blooming Bliss” theme. The mall’s central atrium has been transformed into a beautiful garden featuring pink cherry blossoms, red lanterns, butterflies, and a porcelain-shaped hut as the centerpiece. The decorations symbolize happiness, abundance, and prosperity, with flowers that open their petals for visitors to enjoy.

Armenian Street Park: 2025 Chinese New Year Decorations

George Town’s heritage enclave is bursting with festive charm for Chinese New Year 2025. Around 2,000 red lanterns now illuminate 12 streets, including 300 in Armenian Street Park, creating a vibrant and welcoming atmosphere. These dazzling decorations light up nightly from 7 pm to midnight, bringing the city alive with a festive glow. This Year of Snake also features a cute Snake mascot at the center of the park.

The lanterns were officially unveiled during a special ceremony attended by Penang Chief Minister Chow Kon Yeow and other dignitaries. Adding to the excitement, the annual Miao Hui celebration, themed “Penang Lang, Let’s Celebrate!”, will feature traditional performances like lion dances and Chinese opera, alongside cultural activities such as calligraphy, tea ceremonies, and paper-cutting. The event is expected to attract thousands of visitors, making it a perfect time to experience the rich traditions and lively spirit of George Town.

Penang’s Kek Lok Si CNY Lightings in 2024

Kek Lok Si Temple in Penang is one of the largest and most famous Buddhist temples in Southeast Asia. It’s particularly renowned for its striking architecture, blending elements of Chinese, Thai, and Burmese styles. The temple complex also houses a towering seven-story pagoda, known as the Pagoda of Ten Thousand Buddhas, which offers panoramic views of the surrounding area. Additionally, Kek Lok Si is home to a massive bronze statue of the Goddess of Mercy, Kuan Yin, standing at a height of 30 meters (nearly 100 feet), making it one of the tallest of its kind in the world.

Penang’s Poh Hock Seah Tua Peh Kong Grand Procession 2024

This once every 12 years event, deeply entrenched in the island’s cultural heritage, pays homage to the revered deity Tua Peh Kong, known for bestowing prosperity and fortune. The event was cancelled during the supposed Year of Tiger in 2022 due to the Covid-19 pandemic reason, and was instead scheduled for this year. The last process was held in 2010, as shared in this post HERE.

As the procession weaves its way through the streets, adorned with colorful banners and intricate floats, the atmosphere is infused with the melodious rhythms of drums and the aromatic wafts of incense. Both locals and visitors eagerly gather to witness this captivating spectacle, which serves as a testament to Penang’s rich heritage and strong community bonds.

Tua Peh Kong, also known as Tua Pek Kong or Da Bo Gong, is a deity widely venerated in Chinese folk religion and Taoism. He is regarded as a god of prosperity, wealth, and protection. Tua Peh Kong is often depicted as a portly figure with a long beard, wearing traditional Chinese attire.