Families of all ethnicities swarmed the sidewalks, smiling and pointing at the Chinese Princesses and the children performing martial arts moves, while street vendors sold firecrackers, whose resounding sounds made children squeal with delight. This was the scene at the 2012 Chinese New Year Parade, as thousands celebrated the Year of the Dragon with a festival that was bigger than it’s ever been.

The parade in D.C.’s Chinatown celebrated the beginning of Chinese Lunar New Year 4710. Since the Chinese calendar is lunar, the date of the New Year varies from year to year. The Chinese Zodiac system is composed of twelve signs, and this year’s sign, the dragon, is the mightiest.

The Chinese Consolidated Benevolent Association, which organizes the parade each year, hoped the parade would help unify the Chinese population of the D.C. area, parade president Hon-Yuen Wong said. The parade also wanted to make the general population more aware of Chinese traditional culture, Wong said.

Chinese New Year is traditionally a time for families all around the world to gather and celebrate.

“If you’re in China, on New Year’s Eve, family members get together for a reunion like Americans do for Christmas but to celebrate the New Year,” Chinese Club president senior Zihao Lin said.

Some of the more traditional aspects of the parade included lion and dragon dancers. The Chinese believe these dances ward off evil spirits from the New Year. The lion dance features two people under a richly colored and decorated paper dragon, holding the dragon over their bodies with a wooden pole.

One of the coolest visual aspects of the parade was actually not planned. The day of the parade was fairly gray and overcast, which provided a great contrast for all the rich gold and red colors of the parade.

The parade also included several Chinese school performances, live musical performances by marching bands and fireworks.

The fact that 2012 is the year of the dragon suggested the parade would be successful, Wong said. In Chinese culture, dragons represent power and are a symbol of the royal family.

As a result of the increased publicity and significance of the year of the Dragon, this year’s parade attracted 10,000 more people than last year’s festival. Wong attributes the draw of the dragon to the parade’s success.

“The dragon is the best animal in all the animal kingdom,” he said. “He is the most prestigious creature.”

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