This week is Chinese New Year and there are few better places to celebrate in the Pacific Northwest than in Richmond, BC, a city in Canada about an hour from where I grew up and where I often visit to see my sister and her sweet family. I’m often mistaken for being Chinese (I’m actually Japanese, Irish, Scottish and Norwegian) and my husband is half-Chinese so this is a holiday I really want to know better so I can celebrate with my family. Right now my kids embrace the red packet idea (they say Gung Hey Fat Choy and we have to give them red packets with money in them) and we all love Chinese food-especially when we’ve found fun new tastes on our trips to British Columbia, Hong Kong and Singapore. I’ll be hanging out in Richmond, BC this week to learn more about how to welcome in the Year of the Rooster and I’m really looking forward to spending some time in my homeland and finding some fun new places to tell you about too!
If you are looking to celebrate Chinese New Year near Richmond BC, there are some fun events you should know about. On Jan 27, you can countdown the Year of the Rooster into the first wee minutes of the morning of the 28th at Aberdeen Centre with fun festivities. Aberdeen Center also hosts a lion dance on Jan 28th. The Food Network chose Chef Tony Seafood Restaurant as one of 10 Fun restaurants in Canada to celebrate Chinese New Year too so I might try and stop in there to see what it’s all about. I am on a mission to find a dessert I learned about called Honey Toast and I’ve heard it’s at the Sugarholic Cafe in Aberdeen Centre and since dumplings are so popular in Seattle right now I’m eager to hear more about the Dumpling Trail (Yes, there is a dumpling trail in Canada! I’ll let you know more when I get back!) I know I’ll definitely pop into Sweet Spot, one of my favorite bakeries in Richmond and I also need to get my bubble tea fix in. Have you ever had bubble tea? (A giant Bubble World finally opened in my hometown and I so wish this had happened when I was in high school! We still do not have enough Bubble Tea in Seattle yet.)
Outside of Richmond, Fly over Canada in downtown Vancouver also looks fun because it’s taking on a “Flight of the Dragon” theme until February 26th so you can enjoy both the regular ride and the dragon ride back to back for the price of the regular admission. And in Chinatown, Vancouver, there will be a parade on January 29th that sounds fantastic too!
In Seattle, I love the Lunar New Year Celebration in the International District that’s happening on both the 28th and 29th. The listing has all the event details and I’m hoping that this weeks’ sunny weather forecast holds out. My family loves Pike Place Chinese, Din Tai Fung, Country Dough and Hue Ky Mi Gia in Seattle when we go out for Chinese food. I wish I could be here for these festivities-wouldn’t it be awesome to be able to be ALL the places at once?!
I will be taking Instagram pics during my trip to Richmond of the places I eat and visit so I hope you check them out. If you have been to Richmond, BC, Canada and have some favorites too, please let me know-I love trying out new places. And if you’re celebrating Chinese New Year, I wish you all the best in 2017 and please tell me about any traditions you’d like to share as well! Gong Hay Fat Choy!
(PS. I’ll be a guest of Tourism Richmond, but the ideas on this blog and pictures are mine)
Terumi Pong is a Seattle-based family travel writer and mom of twin teenage boys. She loves coffee and pastries, shopping local and looking for greener ways to live. She is also known as Scout’s mom (Scout is a 5ish pound little black yorkie-poo)
Woohoo! Looking forward to your reviews and suggestions for places to try 🙂