FOLLOWING the fireworks display at the Binondo-Intramuros bridge to welcome the Year of the Wooden Dragon, thousands of Filipinos—including young people—took to the streets of Manila to join the Filipino-Chinese community in their solidarity parade.
The parade was held on Saturday, February 10, as part of the Chinese New Year celebration.
Different Filipino-Chinese organizations participated in the event, including Philippine Fujian General Youth’s Business Association Inc., Philippines Xiamen Chamber of Commerce, Inc., and Federation of Filipino-Chinese Associations of the Philippines Foundation, Inc., among others.
Also present were Manila vice mayor Yul Servo Nieto and Chinese ambassador to the Philippines Huang Xilian, based on the photos shared by the Manila Public Information Office on Facebook.
The solidarity parade featured more than a dozen floats decorated with designs inspired by the wooden dragon, and were adorned with red lanterns and balloons. These floats also bore large tarpaulins that read “Happy New Year.”
Most members of the Filipino-Chinese community riding on the floats were clad in red, which symbolized good fortune.
Floats started moving from the Manila Post Office to Jones Bridge before 3 p.m.
These were accompanied by iconic dragon dances and a marching band from Philippine Sun Yat Sen High School to make the parade more festive and livelier. The Manila Police District (MPD) and several ambulances were also present to maintain safety and order at the event.
The Filipino-Chinese community shared good luck to Filipinos and foreign spectators at the parade by showering them with candies, gold coin chocolates, T-shirts, tikoy, and the ever-famous red envelope or ang pao, as they traversed the parade route.
The floats passed by Quintin Paredes street, Ongpin street, Salazar street, Benavides street, S. Padilla street, Alonzo street, Recto Avenue, and Regina Regente street.
The tail of the parade arrived at the last destination, the Lucky Chinatown Mall, at 5 p.m.
To welcome the Chinese New Year, a grand musical fireworks that lasted for 10 minutes was also held at the Jones Bridge. It was attended by around 10,000 people, according to the MPD.
Those who were born in 1952, 1964, 1976, 1988, 2000, 2012 and 2024 were under the dragon zodiac sign, which feng shui expert master Hanz Cua described as “aggressive.”
In an interview with republicasia in December 2023, he said that the Year of the Wooden Dragon has a “missing” or an inadequate wealth element, which is why he advised the public to work hard and exert more effort.
Cua also suggested displaying dragon lucky charms, a Pi Yao and an arowana, to attract wealth.
