Mrs Lu’s Teahouse
is closed today for
Chinese New Year
Happy Year of the Dragon!

Mrs Lu sat on Mimi’s bed and handed her a small red New Year envelope. ‘Wow, forty dollars! Thanks Mum . . . it was only twenty last year.’

‘I know, but you born in Year of Dragon. I give you double lucky money. Get ready for parade now. It start at eleven.’

‘But I don’t want to go. Can’t I skip it this year? Dad won’t know.’

Every year Mimi was forced to march in the New Year Dragon Parade and she hated every second of it. Imagine if she saw someone from school? She’d just die of embarrassment.

‘Dragon bring us good luck,’ said Mrs Lu. ‘Look, you wear my wedding dress. It fit you for sure.’ She held up a simple red silk dress with a high collar and tiny embroidered butterflies dancing across the front.

‘There is someone at door. I go, you try on,’ she ordered.

Mimi reluctantly put on her mum’s dress. Makes me look really Chinese now, she thought with disgust, catching sight of her reflection in the mirror.

‘Look who’s here.’ Mrs Lu walked into the bedroom followed by Josh. ‘He come to be leg of Dragon.’

‘Hiya, M. Hey you look great! Like a Chinese princess.’

‘I don’t want to look like a Chinese princess,’ Mimi said, annoyed.

‘So pretty,’ added her mum, pulling Mimi’s hair into a high ponytail.

She wriggled away. ‘I feel stupid in this. I’m not going.’

‘Aiya,’ grunted Mrs Lu.

‘Come on, M. It’ll be cool fun,’ said Josh.

‘But I’m so sick of it. Everyone stares and points at you. I feel like a real idiot.’

‘You’re so lucky having something like this. It’s a great excuse for a party. My family were poor convicts dragged to Australia in chains. Nothing to celebrate there. Come on, we can have a pizza later. What do you say?’

‘All right then . . . at least I won’t look stupid all by myself.’

The Dragon lies sleeping in an old warehouse in Chinatown. He has not stirred for one whole year. The Dragon has the head of a camel, the horns of a deer, the beard of a goat, the scales of a fish, the teeth of a tiger and the tail of a carp. He is strength and power. The Dragon brings rain and good fortune and now he is about to be awakened.

Every year Old Ma was invited to perform the special ceremony. He was one hundred and seven years old. Being a Taoist and practicing the ancient art of feng shui, he knew many secrets about life and one of these secrets was waking up dragons. He stood in front of the altar table filled with wine, tea, meat and fruit – a tiny figure in a business suit, holding a bundle of incense.

‘What’s all that food for?’ whispered Josh, standing next to Mimi dressed in black kung-fu pants and a T-shirt with a dragon design swirling down the front. He fiddled with the red sash around his waist.

‘It’s for Guan Gong, keeper of the Dragon.’

‘Who’s he?’

‘A kind of god. He was a general who lived in China hundreds of years ago. That’s a picture of him there on the table.’ It was a painting of a big man with a red face and black beard.

The incense sticks were lit. Smoke curled upwards and the fragrance of sandalwood filled the warehouse. Old Ma bowed three times then began a special prayer in Chinese.

‘Today is Chinese New Year. The Dragon is coming out to bless the people and chase away evil spirits. Here is an offering to thank you, Guan Gong, for keeping the Dragon safe all year long while he slept.’

‘What’s he saying?’ whispered Josh.

Mimi shrugged her shoulders and smiled. ’It’s all Greek to me. He’s speaking in another dialect.

Old Ma turned to the Dragon. He dipped a paintbrush into fresh pig’s blood. The crowd held its breath as the little man stood on the tips of his toes to whisper in the Dragon’s ear. Then, with great precision, he first dotted one eye – then the other. The great beast was awakened.

Everyone gave a cheer and the big drum beat out an exciting rhythm as the dancing lion approached. But instead of moving aside to let them through, as was the custom, Old Ma remained looking into the Dragon’s eyes, a puzzled expression on his wrinkled face. Then, as though following the Dragon’s gaze, he turned around slowly and stared straight at Mimi. His eyes felt as though they were looking inside her brain.

She couldn’t move. She couldn’t breathe. Everything seemed to be in slow motion, even the beating of the drum.

Suddenly, the lion leapt into the silent space between Old Ma and Mimi, breaking the spell, one man under the head, the other under the tail. The lion’s orange tasselled mane danced through the still air like shooting flames.

‘Hey M, we’d better go. They’re calling us.’ Josh nudged her.

‘What? Oh . . . okay’ she replied as if waking from a dream. She craned her neck to catch another glimpse of Old Ma but the warehouse was crowded with people following the Dragon through the doors onto the street.

Mimi joined the other girls at the head of the parade. She carried a papier-mâché horse on a long bamboo pole. Other girls carried colourful flower lanterns made out of silk. Josh marched along at the back with the boys, carrying a ceremonial sword. He was too young to be a leg for the Dragon.

A man, dressed in yellow silk, teased the Dragon with a woven bamboo ball on a long pole. He waved it in front of the Dragon’s nose, leading it on. This was the Pearl of Wisdom and no dragon could resist it.

The procession wound its way through the narrow streets of Chinatown. Firecrackers danced around Mimi’s feet, exploding into tiny orange sparks. But she didn’t notice or hear a thing, she was still thinking about Old Ma.

‘You Mimi?’ came a muffled voice beside her.

‘What?’ she asked, taking a wad of cottonwool out of her ear.

A person in a pig mask carrying a rake repeated, ‘You Mimi?’

‘Yes I am.’

‘Got a message for you then.’ The pig handed her a piece of paper then melted into the crowd. Mimi unfolded the note:

URGENT.
Meet Mr Ma
12 Celestial Lane Chinatown.
Tomorrow.

How strange. What could he want? Mimi was both fearful and excited at the same time.

The Dragon Parade entered the main street of Chinatown and stopped under the Facing Heaven Gate. Mimi didn’t even notice the two-storey string of firecrackers waiting to be lit for the grand finale. She was looking for Old Ma.

All of a sudden, the silence was broken by the phut, phut sound of firecrackers, each cracker setting off another in a chain reaction. Then as suddenly as it began the noise stopped. The Dragon parade was over for another year. Next year would be the year of the Snake.

Back at the warehouse, Mimi changed quickly and went to find Josh. She couldn’t wait to show him Old Ma’s strange note. She found him waiting by the door.

‘How much fun was that?’ he said. ‘I’m coming next year for sure. I’ll bring the whole gang from school.’

‘Yeah. I enjoyed it too, for the first time ever. Come on, let’s go get a pizza. I’ve got something to tell you.’

As they sat in the restaurant eating pizza, Mimi told Josh about Old Ma and showed him the curious note. What she didn’t show him was how scared she felt. She wanted to ask him to go with her, but this was something she knew she had to do alone.