The sound of firecrackers, marching bands, and the squeals of children echoed through the streets of Downtown San Francisco and San Francisco Chinatown Saturday night.
After a one-year break forced by the coronavirus, the largest celebration of Chinese New Year outside of Asia returned with the roar of the tiger.
“I’m so glad that it’s back. It’s like, I don’t know, it’s just like everything’s back on track,” said parade watcher, Patricia Heaton to ABC7 News.
Many in the community expressed hope that after two years of ant-Asian violence, the community could put that behind it and come back stronger than ever.
Stephanie Wong reigned as the winner of San Francisco’s 2016 Miss Chinatown USA pageant in 2016 and returned this year as a volunteer to help with the parade.
“We hope that the community continues to be resilient,” she said to the San Francisco Chronicle.
“We’re all putting on our happiest faces to welcome in the new year, because it’s been a long time,” Annie Chung of Self Help for the Elderly said. “It’s time to get over the pandemic, the pandemic, the pandemic.”
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