Chinese New Years--Chicago Style!

Chinese New Year's came in mid-February this year, ushering in the year of the Golden Pig.
Each Chinese New Year welcomes a year represented by an animal of the lunar
zodiac--the 12 animals representing the 12 year cycles of the Chinese lunar calendar. In order, they are: Rat, Ox, Tiger, Rabbit, Dragon, Snake, Horse, Sheep, Monkey, Rooster, Dog and Pig.

Last year, the year of the Dog, we celebrated new year's and Kristen's birthday with a trip to NYC. This year, we decided to do it Chicago Style! So we motored down to Wentworth at Cermak and 24th Street and joined the crowds to watch the festival parade.


Chicago style, we discovered, is a little sleepy. Compared to Chinatowns we've visited in New York, San Francisco, and Seattle, Chicago's is small and not a big draw for tourists.

As a result, the day had a very small town feeling to it, that we actually really enjoyed. While we waited with the assembled crowds for the parade to begin, Dave, above, took some crowd shots and we finished up a little left over wok shopping.

Soon enough, we could hear the honor guard coming south from the main gate, and after a 15 minute lull, the parade proper appeared coming northbound.

Dragons are one of the main attractions of chinese new years parades. The Chinese have long considered lions as protectors, so lion dancers weave and dance through the streets as a ritual to whisk away demons and bring good luck and prosperity.


New Year's parades typically include high school marching bands, costumed marchers dressed as characters from Chinese folk tales and history, and the local fire and police departments. Chicago's, if smaller than most, was no different.




Also, no doubt, like other parades around the world, Chicago families with adopted children from China joined to march and to watch.

















After the parade, Dave and I joined the throngs of families and friends who headed for their favorite restaurant in Chinatown for dim sum, hotpot, or, as in our case, a nice Kung Pao chicken with dry chilli beans on the side. As we wait, and wait, and wait some more for the arrival of our daughter, we try to do things that bring us closer to her and to the reality of being parents of an adopted daughter from China. Next year, we dearly hope that the parade will include a little girl of our own--whether in Chicago, New York, San Francisco, or somewhere else in the world!




What's your zodiac???