Chinese New Year 2009

It was fortunate that the height of the Chinese New Year celebrations were not spoiled by the onslaught of snow that hit London later that same night. The air was bitterly cold and it began to snow in sporadic sessions here and there, but it was not enough to cripple the celebrations as yet. Gerard St in London's Chinatown was packed with revellers, all with cameras at the ready. I never felt so less out of place with my camera in hand and it was more a question of who didn't have their camera than who did.

Here's a few pics of what went down that day:

Dragon's Beard candy in the making. It can be likened in texture to Fairy Floss (Cotton Candy) or Pashmak, a confection that is traditionally made using honey and rock sugar. There were two of these stalls demonstrating how apparently easy it was to make the candy. A little rolling, a little rubbing, then some pulling and a little slight of hand and there you have yourself some Dragon's Beard candy. It was like a magic trick. They were selling them for £3 per box.

A familiar sight at any Chinatown you go to are the ducks hanging from the restaurant windows inviting hungry passer-bys into the shop. Sweet buns were also selling fast.

It started snowing quite quickly, but disappeared as fast as it appeared. It later turned into the infamous snowfall that crippled London the next day.

As you can see, it was blaringly obvious everywhere you went what year it was on the Chinese zodiac, the year of the Ox. This man was getting really into character.

Everyone followed the beat of the drum and the dance of the dragon as it made its way through the streets and warded off evil spirits as it is fabled to do.

Chinatown became a sea of red, as lanterns floated above you along the laneways. And trinkets for good luck hanged across each stall goading children and adults alike.