Happy Chinese New Year!

If you’ve visited Chinatown in San Francisco, you know what an amazing place it can be to experience Chinese culture, food, and more. They really do it up for Chinese New Year, complete with an amazing parade. The festivities begin on Feb. 1st this year, with the parade taking place on Feb. 19th.

It is the Year of the Tiger, which is known to be king of all beasts in China. People born in a year of the Tiger are predicted to be brave, strong, competitive, unpredictable, and confident. They are also expected to display great levels of willpower.

Previous years of the Tiger include 1938, 1950, 1962, 1974, 1986, 1998, and 2010. If you or someone you know was born in one of those years, take a look at that list of attributes and see if it fits!

If you can’t attend the Chinese New Year parade in Chinatown, you can always refer to this awesome list from 7×7 for other holiday-related inspiration, including some great eats and other adventures!

Let me know if you have ever gone to the parade and what your experience was. I was born in 1962, so I am a Tiger and a Capricorn – both have similar traits. I currently have a client who is Chinese and just got into contract, and she said she would make me some Chinese food for the New Year. I am very excited to taste her cooking; she has spoken about cooking on most of our house-hunting trips!

(The reason why Chinese cooking came up: most townhomes and condos don’t have a vent from the stovetop venting to the exterior. It is usually a microwave with a fan that blows out into the kitchen. If you pull the cabinet doors open above the microwave, more times than not there is no venting. Don’t worry, they did end up finding a townhome with a vent and it was new construction!)