Chinese Lunar New Year Parade p2

 

The Lunar New Year is celebrated on the first new moon of the lunar calendar.

In addition to the Chinese, many other cultures use the lunar calendar

 - including Buddhism, Islam and Judaism.

This was the 26^th edition of New York City’s parade,

which is the largest lunar parade outside of Asia. 

 Unless you ask San Francisco.

Apparently, a sighting of a lucky mascot,

i.e. a Dragon, Phoenix, Unicorn or Dragon Turtle will bring luck for the year to come.

 So, I should be all set.

No word on whether looking at photos counts too. 😉

Here’s a link to the previous blog, some other Chinatown blogs, and one from the Met…

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2024/03/happy-year-of-dragon.html

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2023/01/chinatown-5.html

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2022/10/chinatown-4.html

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2023/02/kimonos-at-met.html

Happy New Year!

PJ

 

© 2024 PJ Lehrer

Happy Year of the Dragon!

The Chinese New Year began on February 10^th and lasts 15 days.  It is the Year of the Dragon – the luckiest year out of the twelve signs in the Chinese horoscope.

New York City’s parade to celebrate the event was held last Sunday.  A good time was had by all. 

I have been meaning to attend for years since the visuals were bound to be fabulous.  

 But February is a tricky month weather wise and last year I had a cold.

This year however,  the stars were properly aligned. 

I suppose that’s because it’s the year of the dragon 😉

The parade was filled with dragons. 

 I can’t say if there were more than usual this year. 

But I can say that they were very picturesque as hoped.

And the costumes did not disappoint either.

I’ll post a second set of pics next week.

Happy Lunar New Year!

PJ

 

© 2024 PJ Lehrer

Chinatown 7

 

The tourists are back!

I went to Chinatown the other day to pick up some herbs and seafood and there they were – clogging the sidewalks buying counterfeit handbags, watches and sunglasses.

And listening to self-appointed expert guides who may or may not be spreading fake news.

I have to admit that even though I grumbled as I walked around them it was nice to see their return.

NYC just wasn’t the same without them. 

I even had an invitation to “come with” after I helped some ladies on the train figure out which stop they wanted to get off on. 

I’m still not sure that they got it right. 

But, as I explained to them when I turned down their offer to join them, I needed to get home before my shrimp took a turn for the worse. 

Given the warm weather we’ve been having, I wasn’t sure that shlepping seafood on the subway was a great idea, but the seafood is so much fresher in Chinatown it was worth a shot. 

Luckily, it was fine. 😊

Here are links to some previous Chinatown blogs…

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2023/01/chinatown-5.html

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2021/09/chinatown-4.html

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2018/12/chinatown-2.html

Cheers!

PJ

 

© 2023 PJ Lehrer

Chinatown 6

 

Happy New Year! 

It’s the year of the rabbit. 

And, it is predicted to be a year of hope.

In Chinese culture the rabbit is considered the luckiest of the 12 zodiac animals.

Rabbit years include: 1963, 1975, 1987, 1999 and 2011. 

 

Famous rabbits include: Frank Sinatra, Cary Grant & Robin Williams.

Oxes, tigers and snakes are all due for a lucky year.

The holiday runs from today through February 9^th.

The parade in Chinatown NYC is scheduled for February 12^th. 

Starting at 1:00 pm.

Previous Chinatown blogs…

https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2022/10/chinatown-4.html

Cheers!

PJ

 

© 2023 PJ Lehrer

Chinatown 5

The NY Times recently published an article about the fact that the bilingual street signs in Chinatown were disappearing.

I had noticed that Chinatown was disappearing, the signs not so much.

But apparently there are only 101 signs left.

Perhaps one of the reasons the city has decided to let them go is the language issue.

The signs are written in Cantonese, which made sense when they were first introduced in 1969, because most of the immigrants at that time came from Canton (now Guangzhou).

But new arrivals from China are coming from a variety of regions, as witnessed by the different cuisines now available in NYC – Mandarin, Szechuan, Hunan, etc. So the signs are no longer as helpful as they once were.

Regardless, they will be missed.

The NY Times was thoughtful enough to send a few erstwhile employees out to track down the locations of existing and missing signs and provide a map! It took them 12 hours over two days.

Of course I took the bait and set out with my map to see what I could find. As I hoped it drew me out of the central area that I visit frequently into areas I have never been before.

I still have more to go, so I am holding onto the map for now.

But if you are interested in joining the treasure hunt here’s a link… https://www.nytimes.com/2022/03/12/insider/bilingual-signs-chinatown.html?searchResultPosition=1

Previous Chinatown blogs…
https://pj-studio.blogspot.com/2021/03/chinatown-3.html

Enjoy!
PJ

© 2022 PJ Lehrer