Lunar Year 2026

For Chinese New Year, I decided to mozie on down to L.A's Chinatown. I asked my Chinese friend to help me out in navigating around all the closed streets and in explaining some of the traditions. 

This Lunar year is the year of "fire horse". Each Chinese zodiac sign comes with an animal sign, and each animal has five elements: wood, fire, earth, metal, and water For example, a "fire horse" may have a different personality than the "earth horse".

After going round and round behind cars that were also looking for parking, we finally landed somewhere far, and headed downhill to the festivities. The crowds were considerate, and gave way to each other. The sound of drums, cymbals, and gongs drowned the voices of the crowd except for this crazy guy who wanted attention by yelling nonsense in our ears. The above video is the Lion Dance, supposed to bring good fortune, and ward off evil. Apologies for my hand in the video. The lion in front of me was waving their hand, and I was waving back.

The Golden Dragon is part of the Chinese mythology. It represents power, strength, prosperity and good fortune.

The lion dance with two performers is taxing on the body, especially if you're the end. This reminded me of a funny Lucy and Ethel Episode when they try on an Old Horse Costume, but neither one is willing to be the horse's end. 

Some people put money in Hongbao (Mandarin pronunciation) or Lai See (Cantonese pronunciation) which is a red envelope, to give to the lion. My Cantonese friend told me that sometimes the person holds the Lai See high, and the dancing lion jumps up and captures it, passing on good luck to the giver.

Happy Lunar Year!

We walked north, away from the parade. The food stalls, quite good, are there only during the celebrations. They have everything from barbecue to Thai to falafel and so on...

Incidentally, I have no connection to the people showing up in my pictures or videos, and I don't focus on anyone specific in any of my pictures, ever. I'm more interested in the vibe when I video or take photos. So, unless I identify someone specifically, or write about them to explain, I have no idea who they are, just like this tall dude who was passing by in my video.

I got a crème brûlée Boba. Both the service and the drink were excellent. You have to mix it or the top part will taste flat.

We continued walking and ended up in a permanent section of Chinatown with shops, bakeries, and places to grab a bite.

Here, I was asking my friend how to say Happy New Year, but I did not fair well. I was able to say it correctly after I ended the video. I now know how to say, Happy New Year, and thank you in Cantonese. You could say that I'm now fluent in Chinese 😝