Today the local Chinese community are celebrating New Year - and this year it's the Year of the Dog.

We all gather at the Chinese Centre at Lower Meadow ready for the start of the festivities at noon, but the celebrations have hit a hitch. The lion dance master is stuck in traffic on the M11, and although it's been suggested that the order of events is reorganised, some of the older Chinese residents remind the younger ones that it's bad luck not to start with the lion dance.

So it's nearly a quarter to one before the lion dance starts - there's a magnificent firework display, and the 'lion' dances to the sound of drums and cymbals, 'drinking' half a dozen cans of Coca Cola and 'eating' green leaves. Residents in the flats in Lower Meadow can be seen on their balconies enjoying the free display.

When we gather inside the building, a group of girls perform a dance with fans, and there's a Tai Chi dancer too. There are speeches - in Mandarin as well as Cantonese this year - and then an amazing buffet lunch, followed by more Chinese singing.