The Chinese New Year is a 15 day festival which begins with the new moon (the first day of the new year) and ends 15 days later at the full moon with a festival called the Festival of Lanterns, a celebration marked by an evening parade of children carrying lanterns.

The Chinese calendar combines lunar and solar movements and is based on a 19 year cycle. In order to compensate for the 29.5 day lunar cycle, an extra month is inserted in 7 of the 19 years, so the Chinese New Year falls
on a different day each year.

The Chinese have a 12 year zodiac, with each year represented by a different animal. 2000 was the Year of the Dragon and 2001 is the Year of the Serpent.

This year, the San Francisco Chinese New Year Parade was on February 3 from 5:30-7:30PM. The route was quite different from what I expected. I assumed it would wind through the heart of Chinatown, but it actually just skirted the edge. In retrospect, it was a much more conspicuous route covering more of the downtown area and giving the parade better exposure,
but I hadn’t been thinking of it as a tourist event but as a cultural festival when it’s really both (and unfortunately probably more the former). Got a map of SF? Here’s the route:

The parade started out on Market Street, right near the Montgomery Street Bart Station where I got off. Then it turned on Powell and went through Union Square before cutting back towards Montgomery and going down Kearny, which separates Chinatown and the financial district. The main viewing area (where they actually had bleachers to sit on if you purchased a ticket in advance) seemed to be at Union Square, with a secondary one near Bank of America Plaza.

I got there about 3 and began by walking the route to decide where I wanted to watch the parade. Union Square was out—I did not want to deal with the crowds. I briefly considered watching from Bank of America Plaza, but that was late in the route, and I decided I didn't want to deal with waiting probably half an hour after the start time before seeing anything, since parades move so slow, and I’d be dealing with the worst of the crowds leaving. So I decided to watch on Market Street, a few blocks from the beginning so the various groups would have time to their act together, but before too much of the crowds.

I stopped for a bite at a little hole in the wall Chinese Restaurant. It wasn't very good, but the staff was extremely nice. Then I walked back to where I'd decided to watch the parade. By then, all the restaurants were setting up food booths on the sidewalk, and I was sorry I was already full. Even the non-Chinese places were getting into it. I passed one Middle Eastern place with bongos and a belly-dancer, and another with a food booth selling hot dogs in herbed dough which looked really good. It was geared towards kids. I’m not sure how many of the kids were actually convinced it was just like a regular hot dog, but I thought it was a great way to introduce the kids to something a little more exotic in the guise of something familiar.

The parade started with a color guard, Junior ROTC members, and bands from local schools. Then came most of the major and minor public officials of San Francisco: mayor, supervisors, etc. Later, we had the fire department and the police department. The police department in particular was out in force--anybody who wasn't marching was patroling! The police department had a very cool Lion Dance Troupe and a huge Chinese Dragon which got stalled in front of us for several minutes. For those of you unfamiliar with Chinese Dragons, or who haven’t seen them up close (which, let me tell you, is nothing like seeing them on TV—they’re much more varied and impressive), Chinese Dragons are a framework of light wood covered in cloth and carried over the heads of several people. The number of people depends on the size of the dragon. I think the ones in the parade ranged from 5-10 men at a guess. The police department’s had this huge head that swiveled from side to side and these big, lit-up eyes that seemed to look right at me. It wasn't real, but in its way it seemed like it, with its own personality and everything. Lions are like Chinese Dragons, only they're two person and the frame completely covers the wearers. Lions have these nifty tails that wag and these googly eyes, and it's really cool. Several of them came right up and wiggled their heads at me and it was nifty. In some ways, I think I like lions better. They’re cuter and friendlier, but the dragons are majorly impressive.

After the various civil officials came Verizon with the first of the commercial floats. Verizon had a huge float with a snake on it, as well as a dragon. This dragon was different from the huge dragons you usually see. It was narrow and serpentine and nifty in its own way. Verizon and Bay Area Ford dealers put the most effort into the parade, followed by E-Trade.

Bank of America had quite a respectable float with a huge golden serpent on it. I think they probably just replaced the head of their dragon float from last year, but it was still pretty cool, and it looked like they were aware of Chinese culture and making an effort to recognize important themes, like the Year of the Snake. The other two major SF banks in the parade, Citibank and Wells Fargo, didn’t show that effort. Both of their floats were pretty nifty, but they were the type that all you had to do was
change the year and you were ready to roll. I’ll have to watch next year to see if they use the same floats. Wells Fargo had free-standing numbers reading 2001 across their float with a stage coach in the middle (their
symbol) and people in Chinese dress all around, kind of a Wild West meets Kung Fu sort of theme, which was really pulled off well, but there was not a snake in sight. Citibank had an impressive Chinese boat, but again, no snakes, unless you count the figurehead or whatever that figure on the front of the boat is, and that was kind of a generic serpent/dragon type thing which I think was more there because it was a boat than because it was the Year of the Serpent. I think if it's the Year of the Serpent, you should at least have a token snake.

I was really impressed by the fact that a lot of the schools got into the parade. Some of them had floats that were better presented and better made than some of the commercial floats. Many schools had child Lion Dancers (very cute), and dragons. Some of the dragons were clearly homemade, but the effect was neat. One school had a dragon and a serpent whose scales
were made from paper plates cut in half and painted gold. It was a wonderful effect, and it didn’t immediately strike you as homemade.  Another school had stiltwalkers. The girls had long skirts, so you couldn't see where their legs ended and the stilts began, which was a cool effect, and the boys wore long, loose pants and tops. Very authentic.  Several places, commercial and schools, had Chinese Serpents instead of Chinese Dragons, which was clever, although they weren’t nearly as impressive. They were made along the lines of Verizon’s dragon above.

I really enjoyed the parade, enough so that I’m thinking of going next year and bringing my parents. I really liked the seat I got—most of the groups performed in that area, the crowds weren’t horrendous, and I had a straight shot to BART ahead of most of the people attending the parade. Next year I think I’ll arrive a little later and get some of that tempting street food.
 
 

Animation created by Lisa Konrad at Animation Arthouse