By Ellen Hill for Escarpment Group Photos: David Hill
Respect your elders, celebrate the holidays and begin the Chinese New Year of the Rooster afresh with Asian street food, music, lanterns, lights and lions at the Hydro Majestic Hotel on Sunday, January 29.
The original Blue Mountains party palace will celebrate its Asian heritage past and present with all the sights and sounds of the Orient.
The Hydro Majestic Pavilion at Medlow Bath will be adorned with colourful lanterns, and cherry blossoms and cumquat trees will stand at the doors with lucky red money bags for children to tie to the trees as offerings to respected ancestors.
Escarpment Group general manager Ralf Bruegger said: “Our Lunar New Year will recreate the romance of the East and be reminiscent of Oriental opium dens and cigars, although our guests these days will have to make do with dreamy sunsets and cocktails.
“We will, however, adopt the tradition of respecting our ancestors. In our case, we will pay homage to Louie Goh Mong (nicknamed `Charlie’), who worked as a cook at original owner Mark Foy’s home and managed the mayhem at the Hydro Majestic for 35 years.’’
Charlie Goh Mong was just one of many Chinese workers who reverted to their traditional skills across the Blue Mountains post-Bathurst gold rush era around the turn of the 20th century, with many working as butlers, cooks, nannies, maids and produce suppliers to inns, guesthouses and manor houses during that time.
Decades later, people from all over the world continue to work at the grandest of the grand Blue Mountains hotels.
Chinese New Year celebrations will wrap-up a weekend of celebrations of cultural diversity at the Hydro Majestic, after World Degustation Day revels in the flavours of all continents on Earth with a seven-course feast on Friday, January 27, after Australia Day.
Locals can mingle with international visitors to watch the exciting lion dance troupe performance and nibble on Asian street food such as dumplings, barbecued meat and seafood skewers, Banh Mi, fresh spring rolls, rice paper rolls, fried noodles, roasted corn cobs, Asian desserts and more.
Mr Bruegger encouraged visitors to fully immerse themselves in cultural diversity and stay at least one night to experience World Degustation Day from 5.30pm to 9.30pm Friday, January 27; explore the spectacular Greater Blue Mountains World Heritage Area on the Saturday; and then attend Chinese New Year celebrations from 12pm to 3pm on Sunday, January 29.
Go to www.escarpmentgroup.com.au to book accommodation and dining options at one of the four Escarpment Group properties in the upper Blue Mountains (the Hydro Majestic Hotel, Parklands Country Gardens & Lodges, Lilianfels Resort & Spa and Echoes Boutique Hotel & Restaurant).
* Escarpment Group is a commercial client of Deep Hill Media
