Year of the Rabbit hops out of the way on Chinese New Year

You might have already celebrated the new year three weeks ago, but if you are Chinese or from one of many countries in Southeast Asia you will celebrate this weekend.

Sunday is New Year’s Eve, when the year of the rabbit ends and the year of the dragon is ushered in. You probably won’t hear fireworks at midnight or see the excitement on the streets of Springfield, but for Johnny and Kiki Tang, as well as others who now live in the Ozarks, there will be a celebration.

The Tangs will host a party for family and friends at CreAsian, a new Chinese restaurant they recently opened at Chestnut Expressway and Campbell Avenue. If they were in China, they would be traveling to their hometowns to share New Year’s Eve with family, then visit friends and neighbors, watch parades and dragon dances, set off firecrackers and watch fireworks every day for 15 days.

In China and much of Southeast Asia, the New Year celebration is the biggest holiday of the year, akin to our Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year all rolled into one.  (From News-Leader.com)

Other helpful links:

• More information from “infoplease” regarding Year of the Dragon
• Hong Kong Chinese New Year Celebrations
• More info from Sichuan China
• Southwest Airlines Chinese New Year Festival and Parade - San Fransisco – Saturday Feb 11 2012
• 2012 Chinese New Year in Washington DC
• Zodiac signs and elements from Wikipedia.org
• Large format celebration Image/Background
• More celebratory images from Google Pics