To those of you who are unfamiliar with the Chinese New Year culture: it's common for many larger Chinese restaurants and businesses (if they want) who can afford to pay a lion dance troupe to celebrate the new year tradition. What this does is that the lion, which has got a huge head with lots of colours, is seen as a guardian creature, and along with the loud banging of drums, gongs and cymbals, driving away evil spirits and bring good fortune to the place in question. The common lion that's seen in many places is the Southern (Cantonese) style - the lion from the north resembles a lot like a Pekingese dog with orange fur. And now that it's the new year period, I've been listening to drums everyday for the past few days.

From Project 365 (v.2010)

This is the reason why I wanted to take up Chinese martial arts as a kid. The lion dance performance at the restaurant near the school isn't spectacular (since I never saw any attempted acrobatics) and, in my opinion, is a rather boring show. But nevertheless, the drum and cymbals that depict the lion dance have definitely contributed to the festive mood.