09 Feb Roar into the Year of the Dragon!
Gong Xi Fa Cai and welcome to the Year of the Dragon! Chinese New Year runs from February 10 through February 24. Celebrated around the world with cultural traditions, festivals and feasts, Chinese New Year is the most important holiday in China. It is also celebrated throughout Asia, including Vietnam, Korea, Singapore, Thailand and other countries.
The dragon sign is the most popular of the Chinese zodiac creatures, embodying notable qualities like wisdom, wealth and nobility. This year’s dragon is the wood dragon, which signifies the natural state and represents kindness. It is believed that people can expect good fortune during the year of the dragon, but only if they are demonstrating compassionate traits.
Established in the early 1850s, San Francisco is home to the country’s oldest Chinatown and the largest outside of Asia. Centered on Stockton and Grant Streets next to North Beach and the Financial District, San Francisco Chinatown encompasses a compact 30 square blocks of restaurants, tea rooms, markets, shops, temples, pagodas, dragon sculptures and is full of history and traditions.
Chinatown is also the heart of San Francisco’s Chinese New Year Festival and Parade, one of the largest celebrations of its kind in the world. It brings in tens of thousands of visitors from the city, the Bay Area and beyond. The events run from February 3 through March 3, and include the Grand Parade, a spectacular nighttime parade through downtown San Francisco.
The San Francisco celebrations include:
- Saturday, Sunday February 3 – 4 – Flower Market Fair on Grant between Broadway and Sacramento. More than 120 vendors will be offering fresh flowers, fruits, candies and decorations for the Chinese New Year. Live performances by magicians, acrobats, folk dancers, and more.
- Saturday February 10 – Choy Sun Doe Day, Portsmouth Square – Choy Suns – the gods of wealth – will pass out thousands of “Lai Sees” to children and bless everyone with prosperity and wealth.
- Saturday, February 17 – Basketball Jamboree, Betty Ann Ong Recreation Center – An annual basketball tournament featuring local youth teams.
- Friday, February 23 – Miss Chinatown USA Pageant, Hilton San Francisco Union Square – A 60 year-old pageant featuring talented young women from throughout the United States who will compete for scholarships and prizes.
- Saturday, February 24 – Chinese New Year Parade – A grand parade featuring dozens of floats, lion dancers, acrobats and a spectacular 288-foot golden dragon. This year the parade’s guest of honor is actress-producer Awkwafina, who was born Nora Lum in the year of the dragon. She will be lighting the ceremonial firecrackers to start the parade before hopping in a convertible and heading out on the route. This parade starts at 5:15 pm at Market and 2nd Street, goes around union Square and finished at Kearny and Columbus. It is the one of the very few night illuminated parades, making the costumers, lion dancers and golden dragoon more dramatic.
- Saturday, Sunday February 24 – 25 – Chinatown Community Street Fair, Grant & Stockton Streets. A 2-day festival featuring dozens of booths and concessions with activities and entertainment for all ages, including drumming, dancing, opera, giant puppets and more.
- Sunday, March 3 – Chinatown YMCA Run, A 5K and 10K walk/run through Chinatown and downtown San Francisco.
The Chinese New Year is also a time to gather with loved ones and enjoy traditional meals, which involve multiple courses of special occasion dishes. Many Chinese dishes have symbolic significance, and it is believed that certain items bring daji dali – good luck and prosperity. Some of these include:
- Dumplings – a warm treat on a cold night, usually filled with meat or vegetables and savory seasonings.
- Whole Fish – cooked whole, representing abundance.
- Spring Rolls – deep fried delicousness meant to symbolize bars of gold.
- Longevity Noodles – special, two-foot long noodles used in savory soups or dishes. The noodles represent a long, healthy and happy life.
- Nian Gao – New Year cakes made of glutinous rice flour, usually sweet but also sometimes savory for dishes.
- Tangerines and Oranges – A symbol of good luck, enjoyed at the end of the meal and given to hosts and guests.
Z&Y Restaurant, located in San Francisco’s Chinatown at 655 Jackson, will be serving a special Chinese New Year menu created by award-winning Executive Chef Lijun Han. The multi-course menu is tailored especially for groups and features Chef Han’s unique take on traditional, Szechuan celebratory dishes.
Priced at $398 for groups of 8 to 10, the Chinese New Year menu will be available through end of February and includes:
Appetizers –
- Sliced pork with spicy garlic sauce
- Couple’s delight
- Szechuan style chicken
- Tiger skin jalapeños with preserved egg
- Sesame bamboo shoots
- Chinese cucumber salad
- Pork & cabbage dumpling
Soup –
- Steamed chicken soup with Chinese herbs and Morel mushrooms
Main dishes –
- Tea smoked duck (half)
- Black pepper angus steak cube
- Salt & pepper crab
- Fish fillet with flaming chili oil
- Vegetable delight
- Shrimp fried rice with black truffle
Dessert –
- Sweet & sticky rice ball soup
The Michelin-recommended Z&Y Restaurant is located at 655 Jackson Street near Grant in San Francisco’s Chinatown.
Z&Y Restaurant is open Wednesday through Monday for lunch and dinner, and reservations are recommended at Open Table or by calling (415) 981-8988.
Written by,
Grier McCurdy Mathews
