P

eople crowded into Taman Mini Indonesia Indah (TMII) cultural park in East Jakarta on Monday, all hoping to catch a glimpse of the barongsai Chinese lion dance performed during Chinese New Year celebrations.

The lion dance performance was showcased inside TMII grounds at the Kong Miao temple as part of the new year festivities celebrating the arrival of the astrological Year of the Fire Monkey.

As people prayed inside, crowds began to gather at the front of the temple hours before Kong Miao was officially opened to the public.

The area became increasingly crowded as the dance started, with some spectators seen trying to reach the highest floor of the temple so as to be able to watch the dance.

The show was cheerful and received occasional applaud from the audience.

'€œMy child wanted to watch barongsai so we decided to come here,'€ said spectator Agung Adi, who came to the show with his three children, quoted Antara.

Agung said he left his house in Buaran, East Jakarta, at 08:00 a.m, adding that, in addition to watching the show, he also wanted to visit some other attractions at TMII.

Another visitor, Musiah, from Bekasi in East Jakarta, said that she decided to come to TMII to watch the show because it was a public holiday.