Several streets will close in and around Chinatown on Sunday for the annual Chinese New Year Festival and Parade. The parade itself will run from approximately 1:30 p.m. to 3:30 p.m., while the Festival -- including the setting off of a Giant Firecracker at 3:45 p.m. -- runs all afternoon. more ›

Yesterday marked the first day of the Lunar New Year, known to most people as Chinese New Year. In China, it's a time to wipe out the old with rituals such as extensive house cleaning and usher in the new with new clothes and the consumption of lucky foods. One of my favorites is a sweet "nian gao" or rice cake. more ›

Consider this Kevin H.'s "Kid on Dad's Shoulders" annex to the sights and sounds of Chinese New Year. It was a tight race, but the adorable joy (or is it fear?) beat the adorable coat by the slimmest of margins. EXIF. more ›

Apologies, golf nerds and gossip mongers, but there aren't any Tiger Woods photos in this post. No Tiger puns, either. (Alright -- maybe just one, a taxonomy. Tiger: Lion Cheetah.) It's the Year of the Tiger But Not That Tiger. Today in Chinatown, thousands of people partied like it's 4708, throwing pops into the street and paper streamers in the air. And standing in large, milling crowds. more ›

The Mount Vernon Triangle Blog passes on some deets on the Chinese Lunar New Year parade. The parade will take place in Chinatown from 2 to 5 p.m. tomorrow, with an attempt to set off a five-story firecracker (!) at 3:45 p.m. Washington's Chinese community officially celebrate the New Year last weekend, but tomorrow is the party observed for the Year of the Tiger -- a truly badass animal year. Year of the Snow Leopard doesn't even come close. The year would need to dip into the exotic to beat Year of the Tiger -- maybe Year of the Sharktopus or Year of the Obscenely Cuuute Elephant Shrew. more ›

Plenty of our Flickr contributors went down to enjoy the annual Chinese Lunar New Year Parade on Sunday afternoon. Unfortunately, a lot of folks ended up disappointed by the sudden cancellation of the traditional five-story firecracker display. The lighting of the giant firecracker was finally called off after being delayed for a full two hours due to a suspected gas leak. We've heard from a lot of parade spectators who stood by through the entire delay and were none too pleased to have been let down after waiting so long. D.C. fire spokesperson Alan Etter told the Associated Press that a strong odor of gas appeared to be coming from a manhole near 6th and H Streets NW, and apparently fire officials exercised extreme caution by eventually deciding to the cancel the pyrotechnics. more ›

We don't know about you, but it's friggin cold out there. Well, not for some of you. It seems as though places that are supposed to be cold are warm and places that are supposed to be warm are cold. Or maybe that's just us. Either way, we're freezing. more ›

The Year of the Dog kicked off with a bang yesterday, as revelers celebrated the traditional Chinese New Year's festivities by eating, eating, and eating some more, writes the Examiner. Residents and visitors alike packed Chinatown's many eateries for chicken, dumplings, and mandarin oranges as a parade proceeded down H Street. Chinatown is home to a number of traditional Chinese restaurants, including China Doll, Chinatown Garden, Tai Shan, Li Ho, Chipotle, Hooters, Potbelly, and... more ›

Happy New Year! No, DCist isn't a little late on our greeting, today is the Lunar New Year. Popularly called Chinese New Year or Spring Festival, the lunar new year is a major holiday in many Asian countries, including Vietnam (Tet), Korea (Sol-nal) and Mongolia (Tsangaan Sar). Instead of a fixed date each year, the Lunar New Year falls on the second new moon after the winter solstice. more ›