Lunar New Year in Seattle

The Lunar New Year is a big celebration in Seattle’s International District.  The International District or as it is also known…

The Chinatown-International District of Seattle, Washington (also known by the three individual neighborhood names of Chinatown, Japantown and Little Saigon, or simply as the CID) is the center of Seattle’s Asian American community. The name was established by City Ordinance 119297 in 1999 as a result of the three neighborhoods’ work and consensus on the Seattle Chinatown International District Urban Village Strategic Plan submitted to the City Council in December 1998. Like many other areas of Seattle, the neighborhood is multiethnic, but the majority of its residents are of Chinese ethnicity. It is one of eight historic neighborhoods recognized by the City of Seattle.¹

The festivities include martial arts school reviews, costume contests for little ones, drum corps, and dragon dances.  The dragons and the firecrackers serve to scare off evil spirits.  There are also special $3 sample bites at many of the local restaurants, which feature a stunning display of different Asian delicacies, from Vietnamese spring rolls and  Chinese dim sum, to banana and hot pepper pizza to ring in the year of the Fire Monkey.

1. Wikipedia: Chinatown-International District, Seattle