© Ana Topoleanu
Some say it’s not the time to make life decisions, but others are countering the bad luck – or leaving those beliefs behind
At Asiastar Fantasy Inc, a San Francisco gift shop that specializes in Chinese cultural trinkets and décor, customers can choose from a wide variety of red envelopes or pluck a miniature lion dance costume replica from shelves bursting with curios to celebrate the lunar new year. Most animals from the Chinese zodiac are well represented in the gift shop except the one that officially symbolizes 2025: the snake.
“People just don’t like the snake,” said Nancy Yu Law, Asiastar Fantasy’s owner, about the reptile’s negative reputation. When it came time to purchase inventory for her Chinatown shop, Yu Law, 52, stocked limited items emblazoned with images of the snake.
Continue reading...© Illustration: Rita Liu/The Guardian
© Illustration: Rita Liu/The Guardian
© Eloisa Lopez/Reuters
From China to Indonesia, the year of the snake symbolises wisdom and vitality and is marked by family gatherings and festive red banners across many parts of East and Southeast Asia
Hundreds of millions of people across Asia will celebrate the lunar new year with their families on Wednesday, as they bid farewell to the year of the dragon and usher in the year of the snake.
In China, people will enjoy eight days of consecutive public holidays for the 2025 Spring festival, an opportunity to share meals, attend traditional performances, and set off firecrackers and fireworks.
Continue reading...© Photograph: Juni Kriswanto/AFP PHOTO/AFP/Getty Images
© Photograph: Juni Kriswanto/AFP PHOTO/AFP/Getty Images
© Nhac Nguyen/Agence France-Presse — Getty Images
© Linda Xiao for The New York Times. Food Stylist: Monica Pierini.
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