When former Vancouver city councillor B.C. Lee was a young man living in Taiwan, his family had decided to spend the traditional Lunar New Year’s Eve dinner at the home of his elder brother in the south.

His parents had already departed, and he was entrusted with locking up the house - a great responsibility.

Lee carefully locked all the windows, but before stepping out the front door, he noticed a potential crisis: The rice barrel in the kitchen was empty.

“How could my mother have forgotten!” he laughed.

A rice barrel left empty over New Year’s Eve would surely invite bad luck. It was an unthinkable oversight.

Although even a few grains in the bottom of the barrel would have been enough to avert disaster, Lee wasn’t going to take any chances.

“I panicked and ran out to the market and bought the biggest pack of rice I could find!” The commitment to family and the rituals that ensure good fortune are all part of what mark Lunar New Year’s celebrations around the world, and here in Vancouver for this city’s multi-generational and varied Chinese and other Asian communities.