Gong hei fat choi! It's the year 4707 according to the Chinese Lunar New Year, and this year's zodiac sign is the Ox. (President Barack Obama was born in the year of the ox.) There have been a number of Chinese New Year events leading up to today and there will be more this week. At noon, there's a fire cracker ceremony at the soccer field at Sara D. Roosevelt Park—Canal and Forsyth—and there's actually a whole cultural festival there between 11:30 a.m. and 3:30 p.m., sponsored by the Better Chinatown Society. Firecrackers help scare away evil spirits.
Find more Chinese New Year events at Explore Chinatown—the big parade is on Sunday, February 1. It's also an opportunity to eat lots of delicious—and symbolic—foods. And for more information about Chinese New Year, Yahoo has an extensive section. Interesting: The Yahoo homepage celebrates the Year of the Ox, while Google, which is usually festive during various holidays, is silent—perhaps an F-U to China?
