A mysterious serpent descends upon Las Vegas to help ring in the Chinese New Year
By Jack Houston
The Palazzo lobby
The dragon is already causing trouble in 2012, and it’s got nothing to do with its fire breathing powers. Some in the world’s most populous country have deemed a Chinese stamp commemorating the New Year too ferocious to be applied to mail. So what does it mean when a two-dimensional, square-inch representation of a mythical beast can earn the ire of an entire nation? Well, if you’re an astrologist, it means 2012 looks to mirror the unpredictable nature of the dragon, bringing good fortune to those whose lucky element is water (Mark Zuckerberg, Leonardo DiCaprio, Carrie Underwood) and bad news for the opposing fire element (Mitt Romney, Julia Roberts, Tim Tebow).
But Las Vegas is a town built on luck, or at least the pursuit of it, and perhaps no place is better equipped to address the coming Chinese New Year on Jan. 23. While Macau and Singapore have stolen some of Las Vegas’ cachet in recent years—it’s just three hours from Beijing to Macau by plane—you can bet the casinos on the Strip are rolling out the red carpet with deals and specials for tourists willing to make the commitment to American gaming.
The centerpiece of the Strip’s Chinese New Year celebrations just might be at The Venetian and Palazzo, where the latter’s waterfall and atrium gardens transforms into a celebratory wonderland featuring a 128-foot-long dragon that spans the length of the atrium and breathes fire, 1 and 5 p.m. Jan. 23-Feb. 5. A dragon dance begins at the Venetian porte cochere at 1 p.m. on Jan. 23 and winds through The Palazzo, featuring firecrackers, an eye-painting ceremony and costumed musicians.
At Zine, The Palazzo’s home for authentic Chinese cuisine, chef Simon To rolls out dishes such as live lobster and firecracker Manila clams, while both hotels’ bars and lounges feature drinks such as the Green Tea with Rosemary and the Dragon Cocktail, a mix of vodka, ginger liqueur, lime, tarragon, lemongrass syrup and lemon rind.
Green tea with rosemary
Lion dances take place on Jan. 27 at Harrah’s (5 p.m.), Imperial Palace (6:15 p.m.), Flamingo (7 p.m.) and Rio (10 p.m.), and Jan. 28 at Planet Hollywood (noon), Paris Las Vegas (1 p.m.), Bally’s (2 p.m.) and Caesars Palace (5 p.m.), where Mandopop star Wakin Chau also performs on Jan. 28-29. Other lion dances take place at Aria (1 p.m. Jan. 24), Crystals (1:30 p.m. Jan. 24), The Mirage (4 p.m. Jan. 24), MGM Grand (1 p.m. Jan. 25), Bellagio (6:30 p.m. Jan. 25) and the Gold Coast (7:30 & 10 p.m. Feb. 1).
At CityCenter’s Crystals shopping center, a flower carpet has been erected on the ground floor, decorated by a 43-foot-long dragon chasing a pearl and surrounded by thousands of flowers. A dragon dance takes place at 1:30 p.m. on Jan. 24, with some of the center’s top retailers taking part to help bring good luck in the new year.
A number of restaurants are offering dim sum lunches, including Blossom (Aria), Jasmine and Noodles (Bellagio) and Pearl (MGM Grand), while others offer special prix fixe menus, such as Rice & Company (Luxor) and Dragon Noodle Co. (Monte Carlo).
With so much in store for the coming year, it might not matter under which lucky element you happen to fall. Las Vegas makes sure the luck comes in spades.
