Chinese New Year

Bing Wang and Shaun Gong plan to ring in the Chinese New Year Wednesday by taking their 10-month-old daughter, Anna Ying Gong, to Hsi Lai Temple in Hacienda Heights to burn incense in hopes it will bring her extra good luck. But fortune already has smiled on the child. Anna, born March 6, came into the world in the Year of the Dragon, the most fortuitous sign in the Chinese zodiac. Her parents, like many Asian Americans, planned it just that way.

The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach saw more of a decline in cargo traffic in February than other ports around the nation, perhaps proving there is one month out of the year in which there's little advantage in having China as a primary trading partner. That's because of the annual Chinese New Year celebration. Chinese factories traditionally close for the celebration for a week or more. This year, the factory slowdown hit trade traffic in February. The ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach, the busiest U.S. seaport complex, move 40% of the nation's Asian imports, and most of that comes from China.

The Chinese New Year-- the Year of the Rabbit-- begins Feb. 3, and a resort on the Las Vegas Strip is getting an early start on the celebrations -- in a big way. On Thursday, a giant figure of a rabbit will make its debut as the centerpiece of the Palazzo 's atrium. The rabbit, which stands 16 feet tall and weighs roughly 1,000 pounds, took four months to build. Its acrylic-fur paws and tail, as well as its glass eyes, all move. The Palazzo is a popular destination for Asian visitors, especially during Chinese New Year.

EVENTS It's the Year of the Water Dragon and Chinatown is set to celebrate one of the most vibrant and colorful animals in the Chinese zodiac in style. The 113th Annual Golden Dragon Parade will kick off a celebratory Chinese New Year weekend full of traditional arts, crafts, music and dance. Food trucks and cupcake wars will keep hungry bellies satisfied. Chinatown's Central and West plazas, 943-951 N. Broadway, L.A. 12 p.m. to 8 p.m. Sat., 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. Sun. Free. (213) 680-0243; http://www.chinatownla.com

The scores of customers who join the long line at the Alhambra farmers market on Sunday mornings to buy Jerry Dimitman's Wong pummelos all know the drill: Get there early, and be prepared to wait as each shopper scrutinizes the giant pear-shaped citrus fruits, holding them in the hand, one by one, to judge their weight, looking for heavy, shapely specimens. Plenty of pummelos are grown in California, but most are the flat, pink-fleshed Chandler variety. And especially as Chinese New Year approaches -- it will be Sunday, Feb. 14, this year, the Year of the Tiger -- many Chinese Americans seek out the necked, yellow-fleshed fruits they remember from their homeland.

On Saturday, amid the cacophony of firecrackers and other pyro-noise, most of China will be up all night to welcome in the Year of the Tiger. Here in the north, that will mean televisions blaring, watermelon seeds cracking, mah-jongg tiles clacking and, most important, people wrapping and eating dumplings. Northern Chinese eat dumplings on New Year's the way Americans eat turkey on Thanksgiving (southerners have a whole different set of New Year eating traditions, relying more on sticky rice things)

First came the rain. Then the prayers for it to stop. Then when the sun came out and visitors began arriving, so did the cops ? to close everything down because of the weather. They handcuffed a local pastor. Their sirens wailed. Vendors and customers scurried off. This was not how the Year of the Rabbit was supposed to be kicked off at the Monterey Park Lunar New Year Festival, one of Southern California's biggest Chinese New Year celebrations. Even now, more than a week later, many vendors who were there remain outraged by how the city treated them.

The 1990 Chinese New Year will be the "Year of the Horse 4688," and will be celebrated on Jan. 27th. The following events are sponsored by the Chinese Chamber of Commerce: DATE TIME EVENT AND ADDRESS Today 11:30 a.m. Children's Chinese New Year's Day, Los Angeles Children's Museum, 310 N. Main St. (outside the museum) Sunday 12:30 p.m. Miss Los Angeles Chinatown Fashion Show,Golden Palace Restaurant, 911 N. Broadway; tickets at the door, $18 Jan.

"The Dancing Dragon" Marcia K. Vaughan In China they always celebrate Chinese New Year. Every year there is always a lot to do. On Chinese New Year they always celebrate because it is a tradition. I like when the dragon appears, and that means the firecrackers go on. Reviewed by Seven, 8 Los Feliz Charter School for the Fine Arts Los Angeles "Song Lee and the 'I Hate You' Notes" Suzy Kline Mary sends Song Lee hate notes, because Song Lee bothers her. When Harry and Doug find out, they tell the teacher.

It is the television show that everybody watches and everybody loves to hate. On Sunday night, the eve of the Chinese New Year, a billion people could tune in for a ritual that is as deeply ingrained in the holiday tradition as watching the Rose Parade is for Americans. The show is CCTV's annual New Year's Gala, a five-hour pastiche of dancing, singing, comedy, magic tricks, propaganda and kitsch. CCTV claims that more than 90% of the Chinese population watches the show (more on that claim later)

Marriott and Enterprise took two of the top honors in an annual poll of travel agents on suppliers and destinations they prefer. Marriott won for best hotel and resort chain and Enterprise for best domestic car rental company. Royal Caribbean was the top pick for best overall cruise line and Southwest was chosen best domestic airline. The poll of 113,000 agents was done for the trade magazine, Vacation Agent  . . . . Thinking of hiking Half Dome this summer? Note that permits will be required to ascend using the safety cables, the most popular route.

The Alaska National Guard has sent 60 troops, mostly to wield shovels, to the tiny fishing town of Cordova, which has been socked by 15 feet of snow, and with more on the way. The storm has already caused avalanches along Seward Highway, cutting off Anchorage from neighborhoods to the south and the ski area of Girdwood . . . . After six years, Las Vegas' version of "The Phantom of the Opera" is winding down. Show officials said this week that the last performance at the Venetian Hotel will be Sept.

THEATER Red Hot Patriot: The Kick-Ass Wit of Molly Ivins Tony and Oscar nominee Kathleen Turner stars as the brassy Texas reporter whose liberal journalism and political criticism skyrocketed her to the national stage. The solo show, penned by twins and seasoned reporters Margaret and Allison Engel, makes its West Coast debut. Geffen Playhouse, 10886 Le Conte Ave., L.A. Show opens Tuesday. Runs through Feb. 12. 8 p.m. Tuesday to Friday, 3 and 8 p.m. Saturday and 2 and 7 p.m. Sunday.

Barely a decade ago, Beijing bicyclists pedaled down alleys here lined with courtyard houses that had no indoor toilets. Now the alleys have been replaced by a wide avenue lined with Lamborghini, Ferrari, Bugatti and Rolls-Royce dealerships. In 2011, Chinese bought more Lamborghinis and Rolls-Royces than anybody else in the world. In time for Chinese New Year this month, Rolls is unveiling a "Year of the Dragon" model with hand-embroidered versions of mythical animals on leather headrests.

SUNDAY 'Tis the season for the sixth-season finale of the serial-killer drama "Dexter," followed by the freshman-season finale of "Homeland. " Claire Danes and Damian Lewis star in the latter series, a conspiracy thriller for our post-Sept. 11 world. (Showtime, 9 and 10 p.m.) Romance of the nerds: The two-part special "Geek Love" spotlights Sci-Fi Speed Dating, a matchmaking service designed especially for the costume-clad Comic-Con crowd. So what time should my mom and I pick you up?

An El Monte man was sentenced to three years in state prison Wednesday in connection with a scheme to recruit hundreds of Chinese nationals and charge them for joining a phony Army Special Forces unit that he led as "supreme commander," Los Angeles County prosecutors said. Under the deal with prosecutors, Chinese national Yupeng "David" Deng pleaded guilty to three felony charges, including manufacturing deceptive government documents and counterfeiting a government seal, said Jane Robison, spokeswoman for the Los Angeles County district attorney's office.

Li Guangqiang rises early and pulls on his sharpest city clothes: dark jeans fashionably distressed, puffy down coat, black pouch slung over one shoulder. An outfit carefully chosen to announce: I am not a farmer or a villager. Not anymore. Li's journey will be long, and he has no time to lose. Heading out into the dry, dirty cold of a Beijing winter, he rolls his suitcase along frozen canals the shade of curdled milk, through the warren of alleyways where he and other migrants sleep in makeshift shelters of concrete block walls and corrugated tin roofs.