Travel Around Los Angeles in the Year of the Rooster

For Chinese people, the New Year’s Day doesn’t really mean the coming of the New Year. Instead, the Spring Festival is the real farewell to the past and the arrival of the New Year. During the Spring Festival, you will see various traditional celebrations, including giving away red envelopes, eating dumplings, setting off fireworks, watching the Chinese Spring Festival Gala on TV, eating supper on the Spring Festival’s Eve, watching the lion dance and so on. Through these activities, Chinese people from around the world celebrate the coming of the Lunar New Year. In Los Angeles, where there is a large Chinese population, people can experience the authentic Chinese New Year through grand celebrations, parades, temple fairs, shopping, etc. This article will introduce to you the travel guide to welcome the Spring Festival 2017 in Los Angeles.

Jan. 10 -- Feb. 10, 2017: The Beverly Center Wishing Tree

Address: 8500 Beverly Blvd, Los Angeles, CA

In Chinese culture, if you hang your wishes in packets on the tree in the New Year, your wishes will come true. Therefore, to celebrate the coming the Year of the Rooster, The Beverly Center has transformed its atrium into the shape of a Chinese wishing tree with traditional Spring Festival elements and the Year-of-the-Rooster themed ornaments and lucky symbols decorated on it. The Beverly Center’s Spring Festival celebration activity began on Jan. 10, 2017 and is inviting all visitors to write down their Lunar New Year’s wishes. In the customer service center, customers can participate in a lottery to win a 500-dollar gift card. At the same time, customers can also share their photos taken with the wishing tree on their social media accounts such as WeChat, Facebook, Twitter or Instagram by using the hashtag: #BeverlyCenterStyle to share their blessings of the New Year with their relatives and friends.

To welcome the Lunar New Year, The Beverly Center has also prepared red envelopes for their customers according to the Chinese tradition. During the event, if one customer buys products amounting to over 500 dollars, the person can use the shopping receipt of that day to exchange it for a 25 dollar gift card, valid for use at The Beverly Center. Customers who buy more than 1,000 dollar worth of goods can redeem a 50 dollar gift card.

Jan. 20 -- Feb. 12, 2017: Citadel Outlets 6th Annual Chinese New Year Celebration

Address: 100 Citadel Dr #480, Commerce, CA

According to China’s traditional New Year’s customs, purchasing special goods for the Spring Festival is essential. Citadel Outlets, only a 10 minute taxi ride away from downtown Los Angeles, has more than 130 top clothing brands and is the most suitable place to visit during the Spring Festival. In the shopping service center of Citadel Outlets, only if a customer says “Happy New Year” or “May You Be Prosperous” to the working staff, he/she can get a red envelope containing a Citadel Outlets shopping voucher. At the same time, passengers flying to Los Angeles via Air China flights can receive a free shopping bag, an admission ticket of Citadel Outlets for each of its VIP guests, and small gifts.

In addition, on Jan. 28, Citadel Outlets will also hold the 6th Annual Chinese New Year Celebration, presenting various performances such as lion dance, folk dance, traditional songs, and so on. How come an American business like Citadel Outlets understands Chinese traditions so well? Are you moved by what it has done and are planning to fly to Los Angeles to go shopping in Citadel Outlets?

If you missed the Spring Festival celebration, you don’t have to worry either, for Citadel Outlets will also have Spring Festival themed decorations to celebrate the coming of the Chinese New Year from now to February. Both the Chinese style red lanterns and the five-meter-tall traditional Chinese pagoda provide customers with a strong festive atmosphere.

Jan. 27 - Feb. 3, 2017: Year of The Rooster Menu & Night Market- WP24 at Ritz Carlton

Address: 900 W Olympic Blvd, Los Angeles, CA

To celebrate the Spring Festival, we must have delicious food to eat. John Lechleidner, Chef of WP24 Restaurant, Ritz Carlton, will prepare his award-winning Chinese delicacies for customers between Jan. 27 and Feb. 3. In order to allow people to try different kinds of Chinese foods at the same time, WP24 has also prepared a menu of 6 dishes for tasting. On this menu there are authentic Chinese cuisines such as hotpot and so on.

WP24 will also prepare a night feast buffet on Feb. 3, where guests can taste many kind of Chinese cuisine, including Dandan Dumpling, Peking Duck and other authentic Chinese dishes. In addition, WP24 will also use the “Wishing Tree” decorated with red envelopes according to its previous tradition. After dinner, each guest can pick up a red envelope and receive the best wishes of Ritz Carlton.

Jan. 24 – Feb. 12, 2017: The Original Farmers Market Lunar New Year Event

Address: 6333 W 3rd St, Los Angeles, CA

To welcome the coming of the Year of the Rooster, the most time-honored Original Farmers Market in Los Angeles will unveil the 1.5 meter-tall golden rooster statue, which weighs 195kg. This statue was designed and made by the craftsmen of the Original Farmers Market and will be placed on the edge of the famous bell tower. From Jan. 24 to Feb. 12, visitors can take photos with the golden rooster and share their photos on their social media accounts such as WeChat, Facebook by using the hashtag: #farmersmarketla

In addition, the Original Farmers Market and its neighbor The Grove to hold the Spring Festival Gala together between 2 p.m. and 5 p.m. When that time dawns, they will provide music and dance performances, handicrafts and all kinds of delicacies to make every visitor have a strong feeling of the Chinese New Year. At the same time, the business owners of the market will also decorate their traditional Spring Festival ornaments and provide all varieties of special offers.

Jan. 21 - Feb. 5, 2017: Universal Studios Hollywood Lunar New Year Celebration

Address: 100 Universal City Plaza, Universal City, CA

Kungfu Panda’s hero (Po) and heroine (Tigress) will welcome the coming of the New Year with tourists at Universal Studios. This will be the first time that the two animated characters have appeared in the Spring Festival celebrations at Universal Studios. This Spring Festival celebration will also be held at Universal City Plaza. Tourists will arrive at a red lantern-decorated Universal City Plaza and can meet Megatron of Transformers who speaks Mandarin, Woody Woodpecker, Winnie the Pooh and Curious George, who are all dressed in traditional Chinese gowns. Tourists can find their own Chinese zodiac symbol and also take photos at the square or under the plum arch. The lampposts at the square will be decorated with the 12 Chinese zodiac symbols and the most protruding characteristics of each zodiac symbol will be visible. When that time comes, staff will also provide Asia-themed snacks and a dessert that features the patterns of “a rooster” and “making a fortune” for coming tourists, hoping to generate a Chinese New Year’s atmosphere for coming tourists from different parts of the world.

Between 2 p.m. - 7 p.m., Jan. 21, 2017: Port of Los Angeles Lunar New Year Festival

Address: 112 E 22nd St, San Pedro, CA

The 3rd Port of Los Angeles Lunar New Year Festival was held between 2 p.m. - 7 p.m. on Jan. 21 at the Crafted market of this Los Angeles port. Beautified by traditional Chinese lanterns and lotus lanterns which were hung high above the ground, this celebration presented different kinds of programs such as lion dance, handicrafts, food, pet paradise and others for visiting tourists. During the celebration, the tourists toured the market by taking the old but popular tram-Waterfront Red Car Line.

Jan. 27, 2017: Chinatown Midnight Temple Ceremony

Address: Thien Hau Temple, Chinatown, Los Angeles, CA

The historical Chinatown in Los Angeles will be the location for the midnight temple fair to celebrate the Lunar New Year. The temple fair will be held between 10 p.m. of Jan. 27 and 1 a.m. of Jan. 28. Tourists can participate in the traditional incense burning and ancestor worship ceremonies, watch lion dance, and set off the firecrackers with 500,000 sounds in the largest temple in Los Angeles to welcome the coming of the Year of the Rooster. This celebration is open to the public and people can participate for free.

Feb. 4, 2017: Chinatown Chinese New Year Festival

Address: Chinatown, Los Angeles, CA

Between 12:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. of February 4, the annual Chinese New Year Festival will open at the Chinatown Central Plaza (New Chinatown). This ceremony is suitable for families to attend and offers many activities: music, traditional culture performance, art exhibition, business traders, snack trolleys and open-air beer gardens. The ceremony is open to the public and is free of charge.

Feb. 4, 2017: 118th Annual Golden Dragon Parade

Address: Chinatown, Los Angeles, CA

Between 1 p.m. and 3 p.m. on Feb. 4, the 118th Annual Golden Dragon Parade will grandly open in Chinatown. Thousands of spectators will be able to view the carts all along the parade route. The parade includes flower carts, parade bands, performers, local business leaders and cultural teams. The parade will begin from Hill and Ord and end at Broadway and Cesar Chavez. The parade officer is still undetermined. In the past, the parade officer was played by Bruce Lee, Hugh Hefner, and other celebrities.