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Xin Nian Kuai Le!

Shogun Sushi rings in the 'year of the monkey' with food and lots of wine.

A group of Chinese expats got a taste of ‘back home’ last night at a private Chinese New Year’s Eve celebration in Sault Ste. Marie.

The staff and owners of Shogun Sushi got together to ring in ‘the year of the monkey’ by having traditional Chinese food, watching Chinese television, and talking about things back home.

Chinese New Year is officially today but, like Western New Year, it is celebrated with a party and a countdown the night before.

Since everyone in China sees his or her age go up on New Year’s Day rather than the day they were born, it meant that everyone at the Sault Ste. Marie party was one year younger than their friends back home for exactly 13 hours.

Shogun Sushi owners Mike and Maggie Chen said they put the party on because they wanted to give their employees a feeling of home.

“Some of my employees can be very lonely in Canada, especially on Chinese New Year. In China this celebration is a very happy time because everybody visits their family and it’s even bigger than Christmas is here. The trains are packed full and even if someone lives a thousand miles away they will always go home for it. I want to treat my employees like family today so that they get that feeling,“ said Mike Chen.

Mike and Maggie handed out red envelopes full of money to their employees.

They said in China older people or employers give these money envelopes so that they can display and share their prosperity.

The dinner meant a lot to employees like sushi-chef Gong Zhao, whose wife and four-year-old child live in China, or Ming Zheng who came to Sault Ste. Marie to work while his wife is in Toronto and the rest of his family is in China.

“I miss my family, my parents, and the seafood," said Zheng.

Most of the people at the party came from the Fujian province of China where fresh seafood is abundant.

The meal included traditional dishes from Fujian like pan-fried Chinese cake, sweet and sour pork, fish balls, steamed fish, raw salmon, shrimp, yang yo pao, salted spinach, ginger and onion lobster, and Ming You’s secret mussel recipe.

There were also oranges “for good luck” and soup with “tai-ping” eggs in it; the roundness of the eggs symbolizing a year with fewer imperfections ahead.

Of course there was also plenty of beer, wine, cognac, and sake.

Mike and Maggie connected their television via Internet to the traditional Chinese television station CCTV.

They said CCTV used to be very popular 30 years ago when there were few options in  China but now it’s a bit boring and they only put it on for the sake of tradition.

Maggie and Mike decorated their home with red ornaments indicating “coming happiness” and other positive-themed messages

“In China, the color red is very popular. We like it because its loud like a bomb and fire!” expressed Mike using hand symbols to emphasize his enthusiasm over the color.

Wawa-born Kym Sloss has been working at Shogun Sushi for about a year and stands out amongst the staff as being one of the few westerners there.

"This is my first Chinese New Years and I hope there is many more to come. I hope to learn more Chinese. Mike and Maggie are great people,” she said.

Michael came to Canada 10 years ago and started opening restaurants.

With Partners, he currently owns two other restaurants in Quebec and one in Thunder Bay.

Mike decided to settle in Sault Ste. Marie after always passing it as he took long trips from Thunder Bay to Toronto and thinking it was closer to Toronto but still had the nice Northern Ontario atmosphere that he enjoys.

The party lasted well past midnight and many laughs, and drinks, were had by all.

If anyone is visiting Shogun Sushi today and sees a tired staff member, now you know why.

You can tell them “Xin nian kuai le” which means ‘Happy New Year’ in Chinese.


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Jeff Klassen

About the Author: Jeff Klassen

Jeff Klassen is a SooToday staff reporter who is always looking for an interesting story
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