(BCN) — This yr’s Lunar New Yr kicked off with a bang in San Francisco’s Chinatown on Wednesday as 10,000 firecrackers have been set off on Kearny Avenue. A whole lot of spectators packed Portsmouth Sq., with many pushing to the entrance or standing on a park bench to catch a glimpse of the performances and speeches earlier than the lighting of the firecrackers.
“We gather as a community to honor our traditions, celebrate our culture and celebrate the opportunity of the year ahead,” stated San Francisco Chinese language Chamber of Commerce president Donald Luu in a speech. “Chinese New Year is a time of unity, reflections and renewal.”
Mayor Daniel Lurie, former Mayor Willie Brown, a number of members of the town’s Board of Supervisors, state Sen. Scott Wiener, D-San Francisco, Metropolis Lawyer David Chiu, District Lawyer Brooke Jenkins, Police Chief Invoice Scott and Sheriff Paul Miyamoto all joined in on the celebration. Many have been adorned in pink, a coloration that represents luck and vitality in Chinese language custom.
They tried talking their greatest Cantonese whereas wishing the gang a cheerful Lunar New Yr, some garnering laughs and others impressing.
“Thank you for being part of the most amazing Chinese community in the country,” Chiu stated. “I feel the history of the 170 years of Chinatown. Our ancestors, parents, grandparents, who all came here before us and were able to move through challenges of Chinese exclusion, fires, earthquakes, COVID-19 and anti-Asian hate. They help lead the best Chinatown in the entire country.”
2025 is the yr of the snake within the Chinese language Zodiac. It represents transformation and letting go of destructive habits, akin to a snake shedding a layer of its pores and skin.
“The snake is special because it symbolizes rebirth and renewal in a year where we certainly need it,” stated Yang Shouzheng , Chinese language performing consul common for San Francisco. “It sheds its scales and comes out with a new skin, and that’s what we need for San Francisco. That’s what we need for California. That’s what we need for the country.”
A number of metropolis leaders got paintbrushes to dot the eyes of the pink and yellow dancing lions, a ritual executed each Lunar New Yr that symbolically awakens and brings the lions to life. They then have been escorted all the way down to Kearny Avenue by folks wearing conventional Chinese language clothes and masks, a fancy dress that represents deities or spirits to drive away dangerous luck.
A string lined in 10,000 firecrackers dangled from the strolling bridge above Kearny Avenue, which was blocked off for the occasion. Lurie, Luu, and Shouzheng got the honors of lighting the firecrackers.
A crowd surrounded the firecrackers, with many individuals masking their ears because the loud blast echoed by means of the road. As every firework turned lit, they sparked quickly one after one other, sounding much like a rain of bullets.
A cloud of smoke billowed up into the air, abandoning a pile of exploded pink and black firecracker particles that from afar appeared like rose petals.
“The streets have come alive with the energy of lion and dragon dances and firecrackers,” Luu stated in a speech. “We take immense pride in our cultural heritage and our Chinese New Year festival and parade, the largest outside of Asia. We continue to unite people from all backgrounds in celebrating this cherished tradition.”
Numerous Lunar New Yr celebrations will proceed for the subsequent few weeks within the metropolis, concluding with the 2025 Chinese language New Yr Parade on Feb. 15.
“I am fired up for the next couple of weeks and I hope you all are as well,” Lurie stated in a speech.
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