136TH BOK KAI PARADE
Rain drops began falling moments after silence replaced the crescendo of explosions from a string of hundreds of firecrackers hanging above C Street that signaled the end of the 136th annual Bok Kai Parade.
Within minutes, a downpour scattered spectators.
That is the power of the Chinese water god Bok Eye, who is said to hold rain at bay for the annual Bok Kai Festival celebration.
“Do you believe now?” said Gordon Tom, who was born in
Marysville’s Chinatown.
The crowd at the annual two-day festival surrounding the historic Bok Kai Temple was slightly smaller than usual, but throngs of Yuba-Sutter residents and visitors from all over the world braved the imposing clouds and brisk wind to watch airmen from Beale Air Force Base perform a snaking dance through the streets of Marysville as the 175-foot dragon, Hong Wan Lung, while firecrackers flashed at their feet.
This is how down.
10:30 a.m.: Sarah Ward and her children Cameron, 8, and Hailey, 5, of Yuba City sat in camping chairs, huddling under blankets for warmth as they waited on D Street near 1st Street.
“We come out every year,” Ward said. “We got here early enough to get a good seat because we always get here late and are scrambling to find a spot.”
10:36 a.m.: Jessica Perez bought her son Jasin, 4, a pinwheel from Larry Bird, the president of Friends of the Marysville Bok Kai Temple. Perez moved to Yuba City three years ago and attended the festival for the first time.
Bird was selling the pinwheels to raise money for the group, which helps maintain Marysville’s Chinatown district.
11 a.m.: Al Wong Jr. got the parade started right on time by ringing the gong, and the parade processional began moving. Wong kept the gong ringing throughout the parade route as two volunteers from Beale pulled the stand holding the gong and another carried the banner.
Two other volunteers cleared the way in front of them, dropping lit firecrackers to the ground.
11:32 a.m.: Ivan Le, 24, of San Jose carried a whole pig to the Bok Kai Temple as a traditional offering to Bok Eye. Le comes to the event every year, and after the parade, he sat in cover out of the rain as the pig was cut into pieces and shared picnic-style.
12:17 p.m.: Hundreds of firecrackers exploded in the doorway to the Silver Dollar Saloon as Hong Wan Lung danced in the intersection of D and 1st streets.
12:27 p.m.: Hong Wan Lung reached the end of the parade where a stringer with hundreds of firecrackers erupted to the delight of the crowd. Moments later, the sky began to empty its contents as if on cue.
12:35 p.m.: Andrew Vogt, 19, of San Francisco tended a fire outside the entrance to the Bok Kai Temple. Vogt’s grandparents were caretakers of the temple, and he used to come to
it went Marysville frequently to help out. Now in college, he doesn’t have as much free time but still makes sure to help out during the Bok Kai Festival.
1:45 p.m.: Chuimei Ho, a researcher and founder of the Chinese in Northwest America Research Committee, kicked off the inaugural Temples and Museums: Managing and Interpreting Historic Cultural Assets conference.
Ho and representatives from three other organizations opened the two-day conference aimed at helping historic temples and shrines thrive well into the future.
2:14 p.m.: Lion Dancers made their way down 3rd Street to the Upper Cut Barbershop, where a head of lettuce dangled from the doorway.
Shop owner Randy Mitchell watched from inside as the lion dancers tore apart the lettuce. Mitchell moved into the location nearly seven years ago and carried on the tradition of welcoming the lion dancers, which the Lim family started when they built the building in 1958, he said.