Local blogger and free-lance journalist Richard White wrote a post about the latest mural added to Chinatown’s cityscape.
Touring Chinatown recently with a few of its community leaders, I was surprised to find how welcoming they were of the mural. They message that Chinatown was not just for Calgary’s Chinese community, but for all Calgarians, of all colours and persuasions was made loud and clear.
When we wandered by the mural, they said it reminded them of “The Cowherd and the Weaver Girl,” an ancient Chinese folk tale of “the cowherder and the weaver girl” who fall in love. However, their families forbid them to see each other and banished to opposite sides of the heavenly river. However once a year, on the 7th day of the 7th lunar month (July 7th), a flock of magpies would form a bridge to reunite the lovers for one day.
Hopefully this Black Lives Matters mural will in some way bring Calgarians of all colour together year-round, not for just one day a year!
Please read Richard’s blog post here. He can also be followed on Instagram at @everydaytouristyyc or on Twitter (@everydaytourist).
