Gung Hay Fat Choy to the Happy Hare

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Colin misses Chinatown LA.  There's so much more to do there, the dim sum is better priced, the pork dumplings are juicier and yes, even the sushi is fresher.

But apart from jetting cross country, we had to settle for the subdued rhythm and complacency of New York's uncultured second cousin.

For the rest of the year, visiting Chinatown DC equates to rooting for  the ruinous Wizards only to have your hopes dashed once and again or keeping up with the latest fashion or decoration trend trend at American Apparel or Bed and Bath.

Up ahead, the two brand new electronic billboards flash colorful displays of anything from cell phones to upcoming sporting events.

So there's not much China in Chinatown anymore.  Back before the Verizon Center revitalized this once edgie ethnic enclave,  Chinatown stretched 9 blocks from Judiciary Square to the old Convention Center (now a huge parking lot). It was a family-oriented neighborhood, and over the years as development encroached, the boundaries started getting squeezed.

Yes, there's still scores of authentic Chinese restaurants where you see the denizens of the old Chinatown still carrying out the day's business or mingling around eating jook with ginger and drinking hot tea, the kind that warms your soul on a nippy winter day.

This is the year of the Hare. One of the highlights of Chinese new years are the firecrackers, and one of the most spectacular things is the Dragon Dance. Today we saw three Dragons sparring with each other in the middle of the Boulevard.