San nin fai lok! Gung Hay Fat Choi! This year, Chinese New Year fell on Valentine’s Day. The parade is typically held a week or so later, but on the first day of the new year, Chinatown is packed with revelers. On this gorgeous sunny day, my friend Paige and I ventured downtown to find colorful confetti, children throwing down poppers (traditional firecrackers are illegal in most cities now, due to fire hazard), shops decorated with tigers and lanterns, and lion dancers and drummers scaring off evil spirits in front of every shop to ensure a prosperous new year. It was quite festive!
Lion dancing in front of the police precinct on Elizabeth St.
Many streets were absolutely packed with people.
Some of the confetti poppers contained little pink parachutes with red banners. I’m guessing the banners said something about good luck. Everyone was trying to catch them as they floated down from the sky.
Year of the Tiger
The streets were so colorful!
These used to scare me when I was a little kid.
We followed these lions down the street for a while and felt like we were part of a parade!
