During the Dragon dance at the T&T Market, I happened to catch something which flew through the air. Lettuce. Romaine heart to be exact. Weird. I had to laugh because just after obtaining this, a Chinese man who worked at the market, came by with a broom and was sweeping up, and around me where other pieces of lettuce fell. I noticed candies thrown out into the group of onlookers as well, but the lettuce was interesting.
I looked into this afterwards and found information at http://www.chcp.org/lion.html Here is an excerpt taken directly from this site:
"Payment to the performing group is usually made through the Choy Cheng, or “Eating of the Green (Vegetable).“ In this country, it has come to symbolize money, the color of dollar bills. Usually, the lay see (li shir) is in the form of a hung bao (lucky red envelope with the payment enclosed) which is tied to some vegetable matter such as loose leaf lettuce. Since the lay see is attached to some vegetable, it’s called “choy cheng,” with choy literally meaning vegetable. The greens are placed in an area for the lion to “eat.” The lion will carefully approach the “green” and even test it to make sure that it is safe and not a firecracker or other dangerous item. After testing on the left and right sides, the lion will do a “3-Star” routine (stepping to the 3-Star music) to ward off any others that may want to eat his “green.”
I was excited about this lucky lettuce and it's sybmolism to money... later that night we went to a Casino which had a Chinese New Year event... Casino = Money. (excited giggle)!!
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