Smoke curled through the night air in Vancouver’s Chinatown, lit by the flicker of incense sticks attached to an undulating 20-metre straw dragon. Article content

When Leanne Yu first witnessed the fire dragon dance in 2021, she felt something stir deep inside her — a calling woven into the rhythm of drumbeats. Article content Article content

The traditional fire dragon dance comes from Hong Kong’s Tai Hang neighbourhood, originally a Hakka village, in the late 1880s. Held each year during the Chinese Mid-Autumn festival, it features a straw dragon soaked in water and covered in incense sticks, which are lit by community members for good luck.

Moved by the ritual, the 39-year-old joined the kung fu club that trains the fire dragon troupe, hoping to reconnect with a part of her Chine

See Full Page