Lunar New Year- A dragon sparks up the streets of the 34th annual San Diego Chinese New Year Food and Cultural Fair. Photo by Cody Rae Quigg
It is the Year of the Monkey, but the 34th annual San Diego Chinese New Year Food and Cultural Fair was dominated by a lion and made possible by a fish.
Performances of the lantern parade and lion dance were scene-stealers, as was the 35-feet long dragon powered by several nimble dancers.
San Diego has a very rich history of Chinese immigrants in the United States. Soon after California was made a state in 1850, Chinese fishermen began to arrive along the coast and set up fishing villages in Point Loma and where the San Diego Convention Center is today. Around this time is when we began to call the San Diego Gaslamp District’s neighboring area “Chinatown.”
“The Chinese could only live south of Market (Street),” said Murray K. Lee, the curator of Chinese-American history at the San Diego Chinese Historical Museum. Lee said the first Chinese immigrants arrived in the 1850s and set up a fishing village where the yacht club is today.
“There’s a monument there that I helped build,” Lee said.
First timers to the festival included Southwestern College students Xitlaly Uribe and Mark Daniel. Uribe, 18, an ethnic studies major, said the festival was enjoyable and important.
“I wanted to come because the festival is an opportunity to learn a little bit more about the Chinese-American history here in San Diego,” she said. “People just know about Chinese food, not Chinese culture.”
Daniel, 19, a computer science major, said his favorite part of the festival was seeing the Bollywood dances.
“Since Chinese immigrants have been a part of San Diego’s history for so long, by coming out and learning about their history here we’re giving back in a way.”
