The Sutter County Museum in Yuba City was filled to the brim Thursday night for its first Speaker Series of the year, featuring Jon Lim, a fourth-generation Chinese-American and president of the Marysville Chinese Community.
Lim gave a warm and humorous presentation filled with some of his fondest memories as a young and reckless youth growing up in the heart of Marysville’s Chinatown. From sneaking out of school, to shooting off bottle rockets, and assisting his grandmother in long evening cooking classes, Lim vividly shared his nostalgia and the deep seated reverence he holds for both his heritage and community.
“I didn't realize then how significant those experiences were,” said Lim. “I’m so grateful to my grandma who took the time to share her stories and implement this tradition of verbal history to me that I can now pass on.”
The Bok Kai Festival was the central focus of Lim’s speech as it played a major role in his family's traditions growing up. Surrounded by an attentive audience full of many family and friends, Lim took his time explaining the origins of Bok Kai and the exciting new prospects set to be implemented this year.
“My earliest memories of the festival are of my grandma and grandpa going around and talking to everybody,” siad Lim. “Before, it was nothing more than a Chinese celebration, but as I grew up, it became one of the biggest celebrations around and I remember having these epic weekends, which would start as early as Wednesday.”
Lim’s grandparents are credited with footing much of the work that helped grow the Bok Kai Festival, especially in fostering a relationship with Beale Air Force Base, which was rumored to have been instrumental in “smuggling” the Foo Dogs from Taiwan to the where they now sit at the gate of Marysville’s Bok Kai Temple.
But in recent years, interest in the Bok Kai Festival seems to have waned in popularity. So this year, Lim and his team have partnered with the Yuba-Sutter Chamber of Commerce, the city of Marysville, and other prominent community leaders to do something different and bring things back to “how they used to be.”
The Bok Kai Parade is considered to be the longest continually held parade in California and Moo Lung, now housed within a glass case inside the Bok Kai Temple, is believed to be the first Chinese ceremonial parade dragon to come to the United States. The temple itself, located at the corner of 1st and D Streets in Marysville, is reported to be one of the oldest in Northern California.
Pixar Animation Studios recently credited the Bok Kai Temple with being its primary inspiration for a temple rendering depicted in the 2022 film “Turning Red.” This accomplishment has renewed a bit of the public's interest in the temple and organizers hope this momentum will pour over into the upcoming Bok Kai festivities.
“We’re working on getting some special guests for the parade and we’re also going to have two free showings of ‘Turning Red,’ hosted at the Buddhist temple on February 25th, one at 2 p.m. and the other at 9 p.m.,“ said Lim. “Special licensing was needed to get the rights for this as the movie was not slated for public license until mid-March, so we’re very excited.”
The Bok Kai Temple is open by appointment only, but the Bok Kai Festival is generally the best chance for locals to view this historic place of worship first hand without reservation. The timing of the Bok Kai Festival correlates to the Chinese New Year, which is based on the lunar calendar that varies its cycle from year to year. Bok Kai always falls on the weekend after the second day of the second month, according to the moon, and honors the birthday of Bok Eye, the Chinese God of Water. Legend has it that these celebrations help protect the city from flooding and provide good rain for crops during the growing season. Organizers and attendees have said that it rarely ever rains on the parade.
“It may rain after, and it may rain before, but I believe there's only been two times where it actually rains on the parade,” added Lim.
This year, the festivities will kick off on Feb. 24 from 6-9 p.m. with a permitted car cruise through the historic district of downtown Marysville. Some will start at Habitat for Humanity and the local radio station, 93Q, will be hosting a live broadcast for guests to tune into.
Feb. 25 will mark the official start of the 143rd Bok Kai Parade, Year of the Rabbit. Following an 8 a.m. 5K run along the surrounding levees, street vendors will begin opening at 10 a.m. and the parade will commence at 11 a.m. at the corner of D and 6th streets. Visitors and locals are expected to line the city blocks to watch the brightly colored dragon chase his pearl of wisdom through the downtown streets. The parade is currently on its fifth dragon, which was assembled in Hong Kong. Ear protection is encouraged, especially for children, due to the loud nature of the firecrackers used throughout the performance. At around 2 p.m., the “blessing of business” will begin with lion dancers going from door to door to complete their annual rituals.
The Silver Dollar Saloon, located in front of the temple at 330 1st St. in Marysville, has opted to host a street dance from 3-4 p.m. on Feb. 25 in support of Bok Kai. A set of local bands, including the Irish rock band ONOFF, are also slated to be playing both outside and inside the saloon.
“In the past, they used to have dances where young ladies in the Chinese community would be selected for the Bok Kai hostess,” explained Lim. “And those were really fun times from what I understand, so we’re excited to bring something like that back to town.”
Perhaps the biggest addition to this year's festivities is a nighttime Lion Dance show followed by a 20-minute display of fireworks. The lion dance performance will take place around 7:30 p.m. at the corner of 1st and C streets in Marysville. This colorful and acrobatic display will be performed by the Leung's White Crane Dragon and Lion Dance Association complete with dance towers and an LED light display. The fireworks will proceed immediately following the lion dance
“It's going to be spectacular, you definitely don't want to miss it,” said Lim
The Sunday following the parade is celebrated as “Bomb Day,” a tradition that involves firing a number of “good fortune” rings into the air for people, usually young Chinese men, to snag up.
“Each ring has an attached number,” explained Lim. “Once the rings were collected, they would take the rings to the temple to claim their assigned prize based on the number, or they could also sell them to someone else who wanted a specific number. Number four is supposed to be the luckiest.”
Bomb day is the official birthday of Bok Eye, the northern God of water and also the deity responsible for banishing evil spirits. This year a Bok Kai Rib Cook Off has been added to the itinerary starting at 7 a.m. on Feb. 26. Lim said he encouraged the public to come work up an appetite while pursuing a downtown car show starting at 10 a.m.
“What's better than old cars and the smell of BBQ ribs?” laughed Lim.
With such an exciting Itinerary, Lim and fellow members of the Marysville Chinese Community hope this year's Bok Kai Festival will ring in a new era of participation and once again draw in people from across the state. Every listed event is free and open to the public, and food and souvenirs will be available for purchase.
For more information on the Bok Kai festivities, visit bokkaitemple.com.
