SeeCalifornia.com

Photos: Beverly Hills Chinese New Year celebration recently included Chinese performances and live entertainment along Canon Drive in the heart of the city. A ceremonial lion dance and drum corps, martial arts demonstrations, dancers and acrobats performed. William W. Brien, M.D., Mayor of Beverly Hills welcomed the crowd of 1,500 people.  Other celebrations in California include the San Francisco Chinese New Year Parade, Golden Dragon Festival in Los Angeles, and Tet Festival in Garden Grove.

One-sixth of the world population began their journey home on Thursday, Feb. 7,  to celebrate the Chinese lunar New Year which starts February 10, 2013. Jamming trains, planes and buses, travelers must be home by Saturday to welcome the Chinese Year of the Snake. SO packed are the various modes of transportation that travelers in trains find themselves standing for hours with barely room to move, much less sleep, eat or relax. During the two-week holiday an estimated 3.4 billion trips are made as China’s residents honor their traditions of being home with family for the celebration. Many are migrant workers who return to the countryside to spend China’s biggest holiday, equivalent to the Christmas celebration in many western nations, with their loved ones.   The Chinese Year of the Snake begins as part of the country’s version of zodiac signs following a 12-year cycle. The previous snake years were 2001, 1989 and 1977. Based on the Year of the Snake sign, the Chinese believe people born in snake years will have inauspicious and difficult periods from time to time for the next 12 months, but they will be lucky financially through stable income from various sources, but not gambling.