NOTHING beats a walk along Ongpin St. especially during the Chinese New Year. So to complete our experience of Chinatown, INQUIRER.net multimedia reporters Lawrence Casiraya, Marjorie Gorospe and I strolled along the street.

As we walked towards the action, we saw one performer spitting fire just like a dragon.

Everywhere, I saw red. According to Chinese tradition, red drives evil away. So we continued our stroll until the rhythmic beating of the drums and dancing lion caught my attention. At first, I thought adults were parading this creature, which can be mesmerizing. But kids were actually underneath it.

Later, I was told that they were called “The Kids Lion Dance.” Their youngest member is 8 years old. According to lion dancer Johnny Najera, 14, their oldest member is 30 years old.

In our conversation, Najera admits carrying the huge lion’s head while dancing is not easy. “Medyo mabigat po [It’s quite heavy],” he says.

Every night, they practice. These kids only perform the lion dance during Christmas, New Year and Chinese New Year. They often earn P200 to P500 a day dancing.

Najera says they earn some money doing the lion dance. Jessie Patrocinio, 12 years old, however, says he beats the drums to take away the bad luck.