2025 Spring Festival: Chinese community paints San Francisco red as it prepares to welcome lunar new year
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In San Francisco – a city with one of the largest Chinese populations in the US – residents are busy making preparations for the Chinese New Year.

And there's probably nowhere more festive in the country than its oldest Chinatown.

Mark Niu has the story.

City officials, business leaders and community activists, march together in solidarity down the streets of San Francisco Chinatown.

Dancing children, pageant queens, and teens on stilts all play a role in ushering in the Year of the Snake.

DONALD LUU President, Chinese Chamber of Commerce "It's a very transformative animal. And I think this year, in the last five years our Chinatown has been struggling. I think this is really the year that Chinatown is going to be transformed back to its former glory."

Local residents and visitors from afar flock to the neighborhood for the main attraction – the flower market fair.

KEITH TYRAN Service Manager, Lucky "So you have people picking through the orchids, trying to find the perfect bud that they predict will open on Chinese New Year's Day."

MARK NIU San Francisco "And here's something special you likely won't see anywhere else. At this station, I write down my wish for the new year. And I get a lucky talisman with that. I put that in my pocket and walk over here to what's called Arm Day, Leg day – these giant, golden cats. I pet them, and then I walk right over here to this blossoming bridge where I hang it up. And they're going to provide protection for my wish."

The four-and-a-half meter cats were created by artist Bijun Liang, who was born in Guangzhou, China and grew up in San Francisco Chinatown.

BIJUN LIANG Artist "Just so much joy. For me, just being someone that grew up in Chinatown in San Francisco, just as someone that immigrated here with my family when I was five years old, who would think that 20 something years later, I would get to make a big piece for multiple people to come by and get to see it in my own neighborhood?"

While there will be some quiet days during the Chinese New Year period, this hectic day is filled with shopping as people stock up on items to serve to family and guests.

"Because we usually have all different kinds of nuts and fruits on the table, and people just come and enjoy, like, all the food and the festive atmosphere."

MALCOLM YEUNG Executive Director, Chinatown Community Development Center "This is the time when Chinese families, many Asian families get their houses ready. All the different things you need to get ready for New Year. You need to clean your house. You need to cut your hair. But you also need to get your decorations. You need to get your flowers. You need to get all of the things that symbolize, prosperity, wealth and renewal in the new year."

And while the snake will soon be taking center stage, other animals are also on display, adding to the festive atmosphere.

Eight San Francisco Bay Area artists have created these sculptures as part of the Painted Panda Project – a colorful symbol of resilience, friendship, and perseverance. 

Mark Niu, CGTN, San Francisco.