A flower fair staged over the weekend in the heart of San Francisco's Chinatown starts celebrations of the Chinese New Year throughout the month in the U.S. city, which boasts the largest Chinese community outside of Asia.
The two-day flower fair will be followed by more celebrations in the coming weeks, including basketball jamboree, the Miss Chinatown U.S.A Pageant and Chinatown community street fair.
This year's parade is scheduled for Feb. 27. Chinese New Year parade and celebrations in San Francisco originated in the 1860's during the Gold Rush day and has now become an event popular to local residents as well as visitors. (Source: Xinhua, Feb 7, 2010).