Celebrate the Lunar New Year with a Taiwanese feast in Prague

Among those in favor of the partnership is Mia Litvin, a Taipei native living in Prague since 2011. Litvin, who calls the mayor’s actions brave, says: “We are a democratic society, there is no reason why the two cities cannot cooperate.”

On January 25, Litvin, the founder of the Czech-Taiwanese Association, along with members of Prague’s Taiwanese community, will celebrate that cross-cultural connection by hosting a Lunar New Year’s Eve celebration at Hoja Pot, the Czech capital’s only authentic Taiwanese restaurant.

She adds that while the Chinese New Year and the Lunar New Year are the same holidays, the days differ according to the Lunar Calendar. The Lunar New Year, the year of the rat, falls on January 25, 2020, this year; Lunar New Year is also celebrated in Korea, Vietnam, the immigrant communities of the US, and other parts of the world.

She adds that traditional Taiwanese cuisine is comprised of “a lot of street-food snacks, a rich choice of breakfast, delicacies like radish rice cake, and traditional hot pot.”

Hoja Pot, a Taiwanese restaurant in Vinohrady specializes in hot pot, the mainstay of Taiwanese cooking, where meat and vegetables are cooked in a steaming pot of spicy broth. Five-spice deep-friend chicken is also on the menu for this week’s buffet-style dinner. Dinner will be followed by games, many of them meant to scare away the monster Nian.

“People put out red decorations, red banners, red lanterns, and dress in red to expel the monster,” says Litvin. Activities and crafts including firecrackers, and making dancing dragon and lion masks are planned as well. The festivities will be accompanied by a Mandarin/English dual-track telling the stories associated with the holiday. 

The Czech-Taiwanese Association was founded by Litvin in June 2019 in an effort to encourage her Czech-Taiwanese children to speak Mandarin. It has quickly grown into a community of 200-plus members, a mix of Czechs and Taiwanese who regularly attend events.

“Our core purpose is to bring both communities together to connect our cultural values,” she says. The association hosts Mandarin courses for both Czech and Taiwanese children as well as regular cultural events. Litvin, who married a Czech in 2013, hopes to launch additional educational exchange projects between Taiwan and the Czech Republic in the future.

“The Czech community has been very supportive of us, especially this year,” says Litvin, adding that anyone is welcome to attend the event. “We Taiwanese are very welcoming.”