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Jacksonville: For a day, it�s Chinatown Mail Tribune photos / Jim Craven D.J. Hseuh, 9, of Palo Alto, Calif, helps keep a dragon at bay during the Chinese New Year celebration Saturday in Jacksonville. The parade was part of a day full of activities honoring the contribution of Chinese miners to the city�s history. Parade, colorful garb mark New Year party By Melissa Martin JACKSONVILLE � Xin nien kuei leh. That was the New Year greeting that Jacksonville resident Jeresa Hren offered to the 600 people who packed the U.S. Hotel Ballroom Saturday to learn about Chinese culture. The clothing the Chinese wore, the music they played and the food they ate were highlights of a Chinese New Year�s celebration that Jacksonville merchants sponsored for the first time in this National Historic Landmark Town. The town wanted to honor the hundreds of Chinese who built railroads, mined and operated businesses during the boom years in 19th-century Jacksonville. "I never have to put on so much makeup for my job," said Yi Wang, who heads the safe drinking standards program for the California Environmental Protection Agency. One of 20 models in a fashion show Saturday, Wang wore the costume of a young, peasant dancer from the Ching dynasty. "I�m really having fun here," said Wang, whose fish and flower ink drawings were on display at the U.S. Hotel. "This is a lovely town; people are so friendly and they don�t even lock their doors here at night." Wang was one of 18 out-of-state guests who flew to the Rogue Valley to help Hren with the Chinese New Year celebration. The guests, all classmates from Taipai First Girls High School, modeled costumes borrowed from the Chinese cultural service centers in San Francisco and Seattle. They also led the parade Saturday afternoon, playing instruments and dancing in lion costumes before the hundreds of people who packed the parade route on California and Main streets. "This is great," said David Hoppe, holding his smiling 14-month-old son, Alex Hoppe, on his shoulders. His wife, Candy, had purchased a red and black, silk outfit from Hong Kong that her son was wearing, complete with a long, black braid hanging down the back of his hat. "Our son is a quarter Chinese, and we wanted him to experience this parade," she said. All eyes were on Alan Fong, a San Jose, Calif., ski and snowboard equipment salesman who was leading the parade with his rapid-fire drumming. The Chinese drum resonated inside a listener�s heart, it seemed, as Fong�s strong beat bounced off the brick buildings. "I learned the drumming for the lion dance as a child," Fong said. "It was passed down from my father and he learned it from his father." Leading the lions in the playful and colorful parade dance was his friend, Ken Go, a banker and former dot-comer. Usually at this time of year, Go dances through the hilly streets of San Francisco. "We�re missing the parade in San Francisco�s Chinatown, the biggest New Year�s parade on the West Coast," Go said. "It�s bigger than the Rose Parade and has 100 large floats." But he was glad to be in Jacksonville, where he also modeled a replica of a 4,697-year-old robe of the Yellow Emperor, during whose reign Chinese writing was invented, the silk industry began and the building of boats became popular, according to Hren. "I think it�s wonderful to be part of the first and hopefully, the annual, Chinese New Year celebration," Go said. "It will help open our eyes to the history of the Chinese community through the northwest." He danced past three students from Southern Oregon University in Ashland. "This is a good chance to show our culture," said Simon Lee, a math major. He was smiling Saturday, despite the cold rain falling on the parade. Tiffany Yu said listening to Chinese being spoken on the streets of Jacksonville made her feel a little less homesick for her family in Taiwan. "There are few Chinese people living here in Southern Oregon," the education major said, "so this is really great." Reach reporter Melissa Martin at 776-4497, or e-mail [email protected] Mail Tribune Home | Ottaway Newspapers, Inc. | Dow Jones & Co., Inc. | Privacy | Contact Us Copyright � 2001 Mail Tribune, Inc.