Learn more about the traditional customs and good luck foods of the Chinese New Year.
Free with Lan Su membership or admission; no registration is required. Chinese New Year is the most popular time to visit the garden. Plan your visit by purchasing admission tickets ahead of time and by arriving early for your favorite activities.
Come join BeeBee Tan and learn about the traditions of Malaysian Chinese ushering in the New Year and preparation of hot pot for New Year’s Eve reunion dinner.
For many, hot pot is the centerpiece of Spring Festival dinners. Hot pot has a long history especially with Emperor Qianlong of the Qing dynasty who was an avid fan. When he held feasts for retired officials, hot pot with meat were always on the menu. On the day of his son, Emperor Jiaqing’s coronation, more than 1500 hot pot were said to be served at the banquet.
Join BeeBee Tan to learn more about the customs and food during Lantern Festival.
The Lantern Festival is the last day of Chinese New Year festival. Activities such as moon gazing, dragon and lion dances, solving lantern riddles and eating tang yuan are all important customs during the festival.
BeeBee Tan-Beck is a Malaysian born Chinese who has lived in the United States for over 30 years. She graduated from the University of Washington with her M.A. in English Creative Writing. She is also a graduate of Hollins University where she obtained a B.A, in Fine Arts. Being broke and missing her home food so much while studying in Hollins University, BeeBee she started her own catering business for various faculty members during the summer of 1975. From there she has gone on to teach friends and family how to make the Chinese/Malaysian foods that she grew up with. In graduate school she taught an evening extension class on South-East Asian cooking focusing on Chinese, Malay and Indian cooking. “Chinese cooking is not just food or sustenance, it is medicine and life” Lay Hoon, BeeBee’s mom, intones throughout BeeBee’s childhood. It was not till in her late 20’s that BeeBee started gathering the small pearls of wisdom that she discovered in her mother’s and aunts’ cooking. Many of BeeBee Tan-Beck’s poetry and fiction publications are fueled by themes of food and family. “Making Marmalade”, “The New Total Woman”, “Embroidering Mandarin Ducks”, “The Moon and Blankai”, and “Pickles” are works published as a result of her homesickness and longing for the familiarity and tastes of home. Recently, she presented two talks at Fishtrap, a writers retreat in Enterprise, Oregon on the major themes of food and family in Amy Tan’s, “Joy Luck Club."
Traditional lantern viewings close out Chinese New Year festivities when the garden glows with hanging red lanterns and the lake reflects the light of large illuminated lantern sculptures.
239 Northwest Everett Street, Portland, Oregon 97209
Call Us: 503.228.8131
Lan Su Chinese Garden
38 NW Davis St #260, Portland, OR 97209
Members, donors and visitors help keep Lan Su healthy and growing. Lan Su is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization and all donations and memberships are tax deductible. Lan Su’s Federal Tax ID number (EIN) is 93-1296840.