Celebrating Chinese New Year with sun and a smooch

Originally published March 2, 2019 at 6:11 pmUpdated March 4, 2019 at 2:46 pm

Gabriela Chávez photographs herself and her husband, Mitchel Mayberry, as a dragon swirls behind them during the Chinese Lunar New Year celebration in Seattle’s Chinatown International District on Saturday. The event was rescheduled because of last month’s winter storms. Chávez and Mayberry are newlyweds of four months. (Alan Berner / The Seattle Times)

Sifu David Leong sets up a beat for the lion dancers during the Chinese Lunar New Year celebration Saturday. He leads Northwest Kung Fu & Fitness, which brought the lion dancers, dragon and martial-arts demonstrations to Hing Hay Park. (Alan Berner / The Seattle Times)

A lion dancer surprises kitchen workers at the Dim Sum King restaurant in the Chinatown International District on Saturday. (Alan Berner / The Seattle Times)

Fringe from a lion dancer’s outfit frames the audience in Hing Hay Park during the Chinese Lunar New Year celebration Saturday. (Alan Berner / The Seattle Times)

Duyen Quynh prepares rice wrappers for spring rolls at the Chinese Lunar New Year celebration. (Alan Berner / The Seattle Times)

Firecrackers are an important part of the Chinese Lunar New Year celebration; these explode outside Deng Studio & Art Gallery on Saturday. (Alan Berner / The Seattle Times)

There are mixed reactions to firecrackers going off in front of Hong Kong Bistro during the Chinese Lunar New Year celebration Saturday. (Alan Berner / The Seattle Times)

A lion dancer enters the Vital Tea Lounge to bring in good luck for the Chinese Lunar New Year celebration welcoming the Year of the Pig, or Boar. (Alan Berner / The Seattle Times)

Sifu David Leong performs a martial-arts demonstration on the Hing Hay Park stage Saturday. He leads Northwest Kung Fu & Fitness in the Chinatown International District. (Alan Berner / The Seattle Times)

Lion dancers from Northwest Kung Fu & Fitness are reflected in a car outside Hong Kong Bistro. (Alan Berner / The Seattle Times)

Many observers of the celebration watched from inside businesses in the Chinatown International District. (Alan Berner / The Seattle Times)

A dragon more than 20 feet in length moves through Hing Hay Park between stage performances during the Chinese Lunar New Year celebration Saturday marking the Year of the Pig. The dragon is from Northwest King Fu & Fitness. (Alan Berner / The Seattle Times)

A lion dancer and the dragon from Northwest Kung Fu & Fitness move through Beijing Fine Arts in the Chinatown International District during the Chinese Lunar New Year celebration on Saturday. (Alan Berner / The Seattle Times)

People practice tai chi behind the stage in Hing Hay Park before the entertainment program begins Saturday. (Alan Berner / The Seattle Times)

Flags to be carried through the streets during the Chinese Lunar New Year celebration are unpacked from a van. (Alan Berner / The Seattle Times)

Hundreds of spent firecrackers cover the sidewalk outside a restaurant in the Chinatown International District after the Chinese Lunar New Year celebration Saturday. (Alan Berner / The Seattle Times)

Celebrating Chinese New Year with sun and a smoochBack to story Restart gallery

By

Alan Berner

Seattle Times staff photographer

February’s historic snowstorms postponed the Chinese Lunar New Year celebration in Seattle’s Chinatown International District. Sunny skies drew crowds to Saturday’s festivities, which featured dancing dragons, fireworks and martial-arts demonstrations. Chinese New Year was Feb. 5; it’s the Year of the Pig, or Boar.

Alan Berner