Chinese New Year Spotlight: Sina Lamu

Sina Lamu at her workplace in Shanghai.

Sina Lamu  (斯那拉姆) is a 30-year-old woman with the smile and heart of a child. Part of a Tibetan minority in the West of Yunnan, China, Mandarin is her second language. Lamu is the only member of her family who speaks the national Chinese language, and the only one to leave Yunnan. She has lived in the booming Chinese metropolis of Shanghai for the past five years and is the manager of an intimate Japanese bar where customers know her for her friendly hospitality as well as her beautiful singing voice. In Yunnan, it is a common belief that singing is a better expression of emotions and thoughts than speaking. Lamu holds onto this truth by singing in a folk band in Shanghai, and occasionally at her bar when the moment is right. Through serving international customers, she has picked up conversational Japanese and snippets of English. In the interview below, Lamu tells the Princess Moonface crew how she spent her Chinese New Year at home in her village. 

PMF: 你过年去哪里？

Where did you go for the New Year holiday?

Lamu: 回老家！我去云南藏族的地方叫“迪庆”靠近西藏。

I returned home! I went to a Tibetan region of Yunnan called Diqing, close to Tibet.

PMF: 你怎么过去？

How did you get there?

Lamu playing in the snow outside her home in Diqing.

Lamu: 比较长！我先飞机到昆明，在坐火车到漓江，在坐巴士。差不多两天到家。如果路好可以快点。现在路不好因为在修路。另外一个是冬天，所以下雪了，车子过不去。 可是我回家比较重要我觉得，因为我一年都没有回家，没有看爸爸妈妈，就春节的时候可以回家。

It took quite long! First I flew to Kunming, and then took a train to Lijiang, and then a bus. It took about two days to get home. If the roads were okay it would be quicker. Right now the roads are bad because they are under construction. Plus it is winter time, so it has been snowing and cars can't go through some roads. But for me to return home is quite important, I think, because I haven't been home for one year, I haven't seen my parents, it's only at Spring Festival that I can go home.

PMF: 你们在云南怎么过春节？

How did you celebrate Spring Festival?

Lamu: 没有什么很特别，就跟全家人吃饭，所有的亲戚都一起聊天。还有村会一起打篮球，一起跳舞，聊天。是一个很特别的时间。 这是我自己想的：春节的时候在我妈妈爸爸家，大家一起想见面，“我没有忘记你”的意思。

There was nothing too special. Just eating with the whole family, all of the relatives catch up. Also, the village plays basketball together, dances together, chats. It's a very special time. This is what I think: Spring Festival time at my parents' house is the time that everyone wants to meet together, it's expressing that "I haven't forgotten you".

大年三十我回贴很漂亮的纸，红的纸，给神仙，欢迎他们。男的不可以睡觉，都等鸡叫 （因为我们所有的家有鸡）。又很烦等，以前有人骗，自己叫！鸡叫的意思是新的年开始了。最早鸡叫的一个家是今年最好的运气。鸡叫以后男的马上要烧香放鞭炮。然后他们到山上去，那边有很特别规定的地方。他们会先感谢山，感谢水，这样的。女的在家里准备酒和油条，欢迎他们回来。我们都要穿新的衣服，也要洗干净，这是很重要。

The inside of Lamu's home,
with the decorative papers she put up.

On New Year's Eve I put up a very beautiful paper, red paper, to give to the gods and welcome them. The men are not supposed to sleep, they all wait for the rooster to crow (all of our homes have roosters). It's really annoying to wait, in the past some people have cheated and crowed themselves! When the rooster calls it means that the new year has started. The house who's rooster crows first will be the luckiest this year. After the rooster crows, the man of the house immediately burns incense and firecrackers. Then they go up the mountain, there are special designated places there. They will thank the mountains, thank the water, things like that. The women are at home preparing alcohol and fried dough to welcome the men when they return. We all wear new clothing, and clean ourselves, this is very important. 

PMF: 你们过年吃什么菜？

What kind of food do you eat for the New Year?

Lamu: 一定要杀一个猪。大部分要吃很多肉，猪，鸡。我们不吃鱼所以。。。女孩子的话喝瘦肉和青稞酒一起烧了，很特别。

It is essential to kill a pig. Mostly we eat a lot of meat - pork, chicken. We don't eat fish so… For the girls, we drink lean meat brewed with barley wine, it's very special.

PMF: 你们在哪里吃饭？在家吗？

Where do you eat? At home?

Lamu: 对，在家里吃饭，一定要家里一起吃！朋友的话去温泉的旁边的村。我们在那里住了两天，带米，肉，酒 - 最重要是这三个。我们去的时候会有很多其他村子的人来，对年轻的人来说是一个认识其他人的一个机会。男的会去那边找女朋友，女的也会这样想。老一点人说的话可以交流唱歌，跳舞，各种各样的方法。有时候也会比赛打篮球；我们那边都会打篮球，男的女的都会！那个温泉村子的人很欢迎我们来，他们会准备节目。就是春节的时候有这样的感觉，因为大家都休息。其他的时间年轻人都在外面打工。

Lamu in her traditional dress outside her family's home

Yes, we eat at home, you must all eat together at home! With friends we go to another village next to the hot springs. We stay there for two days, we bring rice, meat, and alcohol - these three are the most important things. The time we go there are a lot of people from other villages who also go, for young people it's an opportunity to meet new people. Boys might go there to look for girlfriends, and girls also have this attitude. For older people it's for trading different kinds of singing and dancing methods. Sometimes there will also be basketball tournaments; we can all play basketball there, both boys and girls! The hot spring villagers really welcome us to come, they also prepare activities. It's only during Spring Festival when the atmosphere is like this, because everyone is on break. At other times all of the young people are outside the village working. 

PMF: 你最喜欢的一个时间是那一个？

What was your favorite part of your time there?

Lamu: 最喜欢的是。。。一定和全部人一起吃饭。然后还有一个是跟朋友去外面，跳舞。我有很多最喜欢的！

My favorite part is…it must be eating together with everyone. And another one is going outside the village with friends, dancing. I have a lot of favorites!