Chinese Chamber Of Commerce

For decades, Chinese New Year in Southern California has been synonymous with the Chinatown on the edge of downtown Los Angeles. Thousands flock to North Broadway each February for the annual parade, to take in the spectacle of dragons, bands and exploding fireworks. Now, community leaders in the "other Chinatown"--the West San Gabriel Valley with its burgeoning Chinese-American population--say the time has come for a New Year's celebration of their own.

In her spacious San Marino home, decorated with Chinese paintings and art objects, Katrina Leung held numerous fund-raisers for politicians, including former Mayor Richard Riordan and Councilman John Ferraro. Her house, with two stone lions in front and a pool and guest house in the back, has been the setting for entertaining important guests from China on their visits to Los Angeles.

A year after an immigrant rights rally drew 500,000 people to downtown Los Angeles, an organizer alleged that his free speech rights were infringed upon by a city Police Commission decision Tuesday to deny a permit for a demonstration Feb. 24.

The rabbit and the cat ruled Chinatown on Saturday as hundreds of people from Asian communities throughout the Los Angeles area rang in the lunar new year at the district's annual Golden Dragon Parade and Festival. Smoke curled from the gatekeeper dragons on North Broadway, and beyond them, many of the small shops, restaurants and sidewalks of Hill Street and Broadway were jam-packed. By noon the streets were closed off. Many children threw party snappers on the ground and chased confetti that was shot up in the air. The event, sponsored by the Chinese Chamber of Commerce, is expected to draw huge crowds throughout the weekend, said board member Y.H. Yeung.

By the light from a Chinatown bakery, Steve and Isela Gibbs snacked on cake at an outdoor table as the last few of the day's tourists wandered through nearby Central Plaza, under hanging red paper lanterns. At night, the shuttered buildings adorned with Chinese symbols and crowned with graceful upward-arching roofs gave off a ghost-town feel. "It's Saturday night, and it's dead," said Steve Gibbs, a visitor from San Diego. Once the hub of Chinese American life in Los Angeles, the 24-block neighborhood northeast of downtown has lost much of its luster since its heyday in the 1940s.

Cantonese filled John Fong Chin's ears as a boy growing up in Los Angeles' Chinatown more than four decades ago. But these days when the second-generation Chinatown merchant walks down the street from his gift shop, he's more likely to hear a Chinese dialect he can't understand. And he can't decipher the mix of signs--in Vietnamese, Cambodian or Thai--above the newer shops and restaurants. Ethnic Chinese from Southeast Asia have come to dominate Chinatown, operating nearly 90% of the businesses.

Some useful addresses, phone numbers and publications for doing business in Hong Kong: OFFICIAL FOREIGN OFFICES The British Embassy can answer questions about visa requirements and offer advice about business and trade issues. Embassy of Britain 3100 Massachusetts Ave. N.W. Washington, D.C. 20008 (202) 462-1340 The local office of the British Consulate can assist with common questions; other questions may be referred to the British Embassy. British Consulate 11766 Wilshire Blvd.

The floats won't begin rolling for two weeks. The giant slinking dragon costume remains mothballed. But a push by the controversial Falun Gong sect to march in the city's Chinese New Year Parade has ignited political fireworks over whether China's government is trying to meddle in U.S. politics. Falun Gong, which is outlawed in China, has been barred by sponsors of the Feb.

JUST WHEN I thought this columnist gig wouldn't pay off, I got a call from Kenny Yee, L.A.'s "Noodle King." Kenny is the president of Wing Hing Noodles, a local, family-owned firm, as well as the head of the Chinese Chamber of Commerce of Los Angeles. He called to ask me to be a judge at this year's Miss Los Angeles Chinatown Pageant. Who was I to turn him down? Actually, for a week I went around telling anyone who would listen that I was going to be a pageant judge. I got a lot of laughs.

At the Hilton Los Angeles/San Gabriel, the aroma of green tea mixes with the scent of fried crullers and rice porridge at the breakfast buffet. Such traditional Chinese breakfast items — served alongside American classics like bacon, eggs and coffee — will probably become more common with the anticipated explosion of Chinese visitors to the country over the next few years. They are part of new efforts unveiled this week by hotel giants Hilton and Starwood to appeal to Chinese visitors to the U.S. The number of visitors from mainland China has more than tripled since 2000 and is expected to triple again by 2015.