The streets of Chinatown in Vancouver have been decorated with colourful neon dragon signs, to mark the Lunar New Year and the Year of the Dragon. Photo courtesy Daily Hive/Vancouver Chinatown BIA
The streets of Chinatown in Vancouver have been decorated with colourful neon dragon signs, to mark the Lunar New Year and the Year of the Dragon.
According to a report from Daily Hive, 16 new signs are gradually being installed on light posts along East Pender Street, between Main Street and Carrall Street. They are intended to serve as a nod to the neighbourhood’s reputation for its vibrant, classic neon signs.
The signs feature neon lighting stripping to form the shape of the dragon, the fifth sign in the Chinese zodiac and the symbol for 2024. They are also designed to complement the decorative lanterns which hang on lamp posts throughout Chinatown.
An initiative of the Vancouver Chinatown Business Improvement Association (BIA), planning for the project began more than two years ago. Now that the signs have been installed, the hope is for them to stay in place for at least six months and be replaced with a permanent option sometime in the future.
The installation of the signs lines up with the neighbourhood’s largest event, the Vancouver Chinatown Spring Festival Celebration—also known as the Lunar New Year Parade or the Chinese New Year Parade—which will take place on Feb. 11.
