Chinese in California celebrate Lunar New Year

Chinese communities in Southern California celebrated Lunar New Year on Saturday, ushering in the year of the pig.

The pig is the last of the 12 animals in the Chinese zodiac. This year is a golden pig year, which occurs every 60 years, making it an extra lucky year to give birth to babies.

In Monterey Park, Los Angeles, a 5-kilometer run/walk was held this morning to mark the Chinese New Year. The race began and ended at George Elder Park at 1950 Wilcox Ave. Others strolled through a Floral Street Fair at Garvey Avenue between Alhambra and Garfield avenues.

The Los Angeles Zoo & Botanical Gardens is holding a two-day event to welcome the year of the pig. This year the annual Lunar New Year celebration features self-guided tours of exotic wild pigs and peccary exhibits, Korean music and dance, Chinese music and acrobatics, Chinese lion dances, artisan booths and children's kung-fu. Wild pig species like the Visayan warty pig, babirusas, red river hog and the Chacoan peccary will be highlighted during the tour.

Radio Korea kicked off a two-day Chinese New Year festival at Wilshire Park Place on Wilshire Boulevard in downtown Los Angeles.

The festival features Korean games, food, music, dance and a contest seeking the best-tasting kimchi.

For people who want to spend the Lunar New Year appreciating Chinese Art, the Orange County has a new exhibit. A grand opening gala will be held in Santa Ana at the Bowers Museum tonight at 6 p.m. and "Treasures from Shanghai: 5,000 Years of Chinese Art and Culture" will open.

Editor: Cindy