On Sunday, my family and I attended the District of Columbia (DC) Chinese New Year’s Parade. The Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association (CCBA) held its biggest and most diverse parade ever to ring in the 4716 Chinese Lunar New Year, the Year of the Dog!
People wore dog hats on their heads :)
The community-based parade included traditional lion and dragon dances, Kung Fu demonstrations, firecrackers, live music and marching bands, beauty pageant winners, VIPs, and other community talents! And boy was it crowded!
The parade was seven (7) blocks long starting from 6th & I Street winding around Chinatown and proceeding under the arch towards the final stage at 6th & H Street. The parade took about 50 minutes from start to finish.
Numerous VIPs were in attendance including the DC Mayor, Muriel Bowser; Republic of China (Taiwan’s) Cultural Representative, Mr. Pu-tsung King; The CCBA’s Chairman, Mr. Wallace Lee; various other local and national government officials.
Evidently there were firecrackers but it was sooo crowded that we left early to take in some of the Smithsonian sites.
My overall impression was that it was very Americanized. They had a DJ play "Who let the dogs out?". There were cheerleaders, British soldiers drumming and team mascots. While there were certainly Chinese themed acts in the parade, about half were actually local groups and/or teams that had nothing whatsoever to do with the Chinese New Year.
So...we went to the Natural History museum and saw the mummies and evolution displays.
If you were born in the Year of the Dog...(1946, 1958, 1970, 1982, 1994, 2006, 2018) check out your horoscope for 2018: https://astrology.com.au/blog/horoscope-2018-chinese-new-year-predictions-in-the-year-of-the-dog
With Love,
Chris