In this auspicious year of the dragon, we went to the Chinese New Year celebration in DC today. It was a gorgeous day but we dithered and we missed the parade. We did however see the dragons and lions dancing for the crowd. The big event comes at the end when they light the firecrackers. It is the year 4709 in the Chinese calendar. There is a firecracker for every year and they are all tied onto a long string. That means a lot of firecrackers have to go off. In years past, they hoisted them up into the air with a crane. But the string got too long for that to work. So they had them arrayed on the ground and although we were close enough to hear them and to be engulfed in smoke, we could not really see them.
When this celebration started years ago, this actually was Chinatown. However, most residents and stores have long since moved to the suburbs. There is a mall in Gaithersburg that has its own celebration for the local community. In the face of decline, Chinatown was redeveloped with the building of a new arena. This chased out whatever mom and pop Chinese restaurants and shops were left and now it is just a bunch of chains and rowdy young people roaming the streets with too much time on their hands and too much interest in shoplifting and pickpocketing. But they still call it Chinatown and there are Chinese letters on the street signs, despite the lack of actual Chinese people or businesses, and it is the location of the Chinese gate, a gift from the Peoples Republic. Here are some pics.
Performing for the dignitaries.
The dragons taunt the firecrackers.
These guys were really good. They were jumping up in the air and rolling on the ground. The girls playing the percussion were awesome too.
HAPPY YEAR OF THE DRAGON!
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