Chinatown
“Just because it’s imperfect doesn’t mean its bad.”
Thirty Cantonese-speaking Oakland residents graduated from a five-week Oakland Police Department (OPD) Cantonese Language Citizen Police Academy on Tuesday evening, when they received their certificate from OPD Assistant Chief David Downing.
The Chinese-speaking world is getting ready for the Lunar New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, which will begin on February 8.
Being Chinese, one does not simply eat. Eating is a favorite cultural pastime, and has a process to it that is treated with such reverence that the Chinese say, “Dining comes before the Emperor does.” This respect for delectables escalates with the arrival of the Lunar New Year, which begins with the second new moon after the winter solstice. The holidays—much like a combination of Thanksgiving and Christmas when families reunite—start when the moon is but a sliver in the…
It was a rainy week, and people were itching to head outdoors by the time Saturday rolled around. Many found themselves drawn to the hubbub at the center of Oakland Chinatown, where the annual Lunar New Year Bazaar was held. Offered two weeks shy of Chinese New Year, the street fair is meant to usher in the popular holiday as Chinese American families began their preparations.
Caroline Chin Yee, a veteran Oakland educator who died earlier this year, was honored with Wednesday’s dedication of an education annex at the school she attended as a child and served as principal.
Oakland’s 26th annual Chinatown StreetFest took over a few blocks of the city’s downtown area this weekend, boasting booths with food from local restaurants, free health services and musical entertainment.
On weekends, shoppers fill the sidewalks of Oakland’s Chinatown to browse open air markets, gift stores, restaurants and bakeries.
Costumed performers and rows of vendors calling out to passersby from booths offering street food, shiny trinkets and herbal remedies added to the hubbub of Oakland’s Chinatown over the weekend during the 25th annual Chinatown StreetFest.