Chinese New Year

At the end of January, we went to dim sum with Johnson's and then stayed for the annual Chinese New Year parade. Cecilia loved this last year, talked about dancing dragons and lions all year, and this year was just as good. They block off all the streets in Chinatown for the parade and set up a stage for shows in the middle.

First we watched the lion dances on the stage.



I also had to videotape this kung-fu demonstration because it was so awesome. The smallest kid right in front in the middle is the best one, which is amazing because he looks like he's 3 years old. He later did a solo demo where he used a staff and swung it around like a pro.



After their demonstrations onstage, the lions parade off and generally make their way around to all the storefronts, where they receive gifts of cabbage and oranges and they celebrate with firecrackers. The lions also receive a lay-see (a red envelope with a money gift inside) from the store owners. All of this is supposed to bring the store owners good luck for the upcoming year.



We stayed and watched for a couple hours, at Cecilia's insistence. It was only because that she was obviously getting tired and it was almost time for family nap that we had to pull her away. For days afterward, when we asked what was her favorite part, she said the fireworks!