The Chinese New Year celebrations for the Year of the Ox start this Saturday in San Francisco

<p style="TEXT-ALIGN:justify;">I have been enjoying the Chinese New Year festivities since my children have been in preschool. Both girls became very enthusiastic about it thanks to Chinese parents who went to their classroom to educate them and share their culture with them and their classmates. And for that, I am grateful as it got my kids to share with us what they learned about a culture that I was not familiar with (yet).</p> <p style="TEXT-ALIGN:justify;">The Chinese New Year is dependent on the Lunar Calendar and therefore changes every year. This year, Chinese New Year falls on January 26 th and we will celebrate the Year of the Ox. We will also enter the lunar year 4707.</p> <p style="TEXT-ALIGN:justify;">Chinese families celebrate the new year by being together, giving each other gifts, eating symbolic foods and display decorations, all that in an effort for bringing good luck for the year to come.</p> <p style="TEXT-ALIGN:justify;"><span style="FONT-FAMILY:Times New Roman;">San Francisco will have a lot going on before and after the New Year. You can find the complete calendar of events by clicking </span><a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.chineseparade.com/calendar.asp">here</a> .</p> <p style="TEXT-ALIGN:justify;">Everything is starting this Saturday, January 24, at 10:30 AM with a mini-parade preview in order to open festivities celebrating the Year of the Ox. The mini parade route begins on California Street and Grant Avenue and ends at the stage on Jackson Street and Grant Avenue .</p> <p style="TEXT-ALIGN:justify;">It is smaller than the actual parade that will take place on February 7 th and that can be a nice start if you have small children that may be impressed by a bigger parade. I took my children when they were toddlers to the big parade and I can still remember the magic on their faces. They felt scared sometimes by these big puppets and the sounds of the firecrackers but it did not deter them from staying!</p> <p style="TEXT-ALIGN:justify;">It is also fun to check yours and family members Chinese Zodiac sign if you do not know it already; maybe one of you is an Ox! I know that my children are patiently waiting for the year of the Snake and the year of the Tiger. If you are not sure what your sign is, look at this website <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/social_customs/zodiac/">http://www.travelchinaguide.com/intro/social_customs/zodiac/</a></p> <p style="TEXT-ALIGN:justify;">You will also discover the main characteristics associated with your sign.</p> <p style="TEXT-ALIGN:justify;">You can then spend the afternoon in Chinatown at the annual Flower Fair where you can purchase New Year’s flowers, plants, fruits and candies. The Flower Fair will be open until 8:00 p.m. and again on Sunday, February 3 from 9:00am-6:00pm.</p> <p style="TEXT-ALIGN:justify;"><strong><span style="FONT-FAMILY:Times New Roman;">Lucky food</span></strong></p> <p style="TEXT-ALIGN:justify;">To celebrate the New Year, Chinese families eat lots of lucky foods in order to get lucky for the coming year: </p> <p style="TEXT-ALIGN:justify;"><span style="FONT-FAMILY:Times New Roman;"><span>-</span><span style="FONT:7pt 'Times New Roman';">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span>long noodles will bring a long life<br><span style="FONT-FAMILY:Times New Roman;"><span>-</span><span style="FONT:7pt 'Times New Roman';">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span>dates<br><span style="FONT-FAMILY:Times New Roman;"><span>-</span><span style="FONT:7pt 'Times New Roman';">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span>peanuts<br><span style="FONT-FAMILY:Times New Roman;"><span>-</span><span style="FONT:7pt 'Times New Roman';">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span>sticky rice<br><span style="FONT-FAMILY:Times New Roman;"><span>-</span><span style="FONT:7pt 'Times New Roman';">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span>lettuce (the word for lettuce and money is the same in Chinese language)<br><span style="FONT-FAMILY:Times New Roman;"><span>-</span><span style="FONT:7pt 'Times New Roman';">&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp;&nbsp; </span></span>tangerines (The word tangerine in Chinese is the same as good luck).</p> <p style="TEXT-ALIGN:justify;"><strong><span style="FONT-FAMILY:Times New Roman;">Activities</span></strong></p> <p style="TEXT-ALIGN:justify;">To do some crafts related to the New Year, check out the Crayola website: they have a nice selection of crafts: dragons, cymbals, fireworks drawings and much more: <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.crayola.com/crafts/chinese-new-year--year-of-the-ox-crafts/">http://www.crayola.com/crafts/chinese-new-year--year-of-the-ox-crafts/</a></p> <p style="TEXT-ALIGN:justify;">You can also check out the activity village website for wonderful crafts: <a rel="nofollow" href="http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/chinese_new_year_crafts.htm">http://www.activityvillage.co.uk/chinese_new_year_crafts.htm</a></p> <p style="TEXT-ALIGN:justify;"><strong><span style="FONT-FAMILY:Times New Roman;">Famous Oxen</span></strong></p> <p style="TEXT-ALIGN:justify;">Charlie Chaplin, Walt Disney, Anthony Hopkins, Jane Fonda, Peter Sellers, Jack Nicholson,Waren Beatty, Bill Cosby, Madeleine Albright, Margaret Thatcher, Bruce Springsteen, Vincent Van Gogh, Aristotle,<span>&nbsp; </span>Dustin Hoffman, Adolf Hitler, Richard Burton, Kate Moss, Meg Ryan, George Clooney, Sammy Davis Jr.,<span>&nbsp; </span>Saddam Hussein, Heather Locklear, Eddie Murphy, Jane Fonda, Princess Diana, Meryl Streep, Sigourney Weaver, Jim Carrey, Gerard Ford, <span>&nbsp;</span>and Paul Newman.<br><br>&nbsp;More posts to come soo! <br>Subscribe to my blog: www.travelismorefunwithkids.com<br></p>