Special Report: Spring Festival Special 2009

    YANGON, Jan. 30 (Xinhua) -- The four-day Chinese traditional new year lion dance competitions ended in the Chinatown here Friday evening with the "H.B.S." lion dancing group winning the first prize.

    The "Black Pearl" group scored the second, while the "Sky Dragon" the third.

    The winning groups repeated their excellent performances after a prize presentation ceremony was held.

    A total of 10 such amateur groups took part in the contests, which was the fourth edition of its kind.

    The southern-style lion dance competitions constituted part of the rare activities of the Myanmar-Chinese in celebration of this year's traditional Chinese new year or spring festival.

    During last year's third competitions, six other lion dancing groups participated in the contest, of which the "Last Don" group won the first prize.

    On Sunday, the eve of the new year, these lion dancing groups and dragon dancing groups as well as groups portraying the characters of eight immortals (which cross sea) and Tang Seng vulnerable monk and his three followers in the story "Journey to the West" participated in the grander-than-last-year round-the-Chinatown march.