Lettuce Flung at Vancouver's New Mayor During a Lion Dance: The Viral Inauguration Photo Is a Chinese Blessing
A photograph of a piece of lettuce flying toward Pete Fry, the new mayor of Vancouver, British Columbia, Canada, during a lion dance at his November 2 inauguration went viral on Threads, Bluesky and other platforms, drawing about 5,500 likes on one widely shared post, according to CBC News, which later produced a segment calling the lettuce shot the defining image of the inauguration.
The picture drew jokes at first, but CBC reported the lettuce was no accident or prank: it was part of a blessing in the Chinese lion dance tradition. In the 'plucking the greens' ritual, the lion eats lettuce - a symbol of prosperity because the word for lettuce sounds like 'wealth' in Cantonese - and scatters it over the audience to spread fortune and good luck, a custom with a long history in the Chinese community. The leaf that flew at the new mayor was, by tradition, a well-wish aimed at him.
Fry was sworn in as Vancouver's 42nd mayor, and its first Green Party mayor, at the Orpheum Theatre on November 2, alongside the new city council, after defeating incumbent Ken Sim in the October 17 municipal election. The ceremony deliberately wove together the city's cultures, with remarks from leaders of the Musqueam, Squamish and Tsleil-Waututh Nations, a performance by the Vancouver Police Department's Lion Dance Team, and the police pipes and drums.
Vancouver is home to one of Canada's largest Chinese communities. A lion dance blessing turning into the viral image of a mayor's first day gave many local Chinese readers a knowing smile: on day one, the new mayor had already received a blessing delivered the Chinese way.
Source: CBC News
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 舞狮采青资料图：舞狮将生菜抛向空中（Kurt Bauschardt摄，CC BY-SA 2.0，经Wikimedia Commons；2013年加拿大埃德蒙顿传统节画面，非温哥华就职礼现场图）
