I'm An Intern In New York

Happy Chinese New Year! ... Get Your Traditional Chinese Designer Watch!

The Chinese New Year, the year of the rooster, is finally here. I know, I'm exhausted from the anticipation, too. Now we can all get back to life as usual; am I right?

I went with some friends down to Chinatown to see the New Year's parade. It was pretty impressive. Not that the floats or costumes were that decorative or elaborate, but seeing Chinatown for the first time, and getting a glimpse of the culture was fascinating. I got to see people in traditional Chinese dress, hear traditional Chinese music, and see groups perform traditional Chinese dances.

But the traditions didn't end there! After the parade was over, I got to see the floats taken down by traditional chinese union labor. There were 4 or 5 of them, all wearing Yankee hats. They had large guts, grizzled beards and goatees, and smoked. "I feel like I'm in Hong Kong!" I said excitedly.

As we walked down the street, we saw a number of traditional chinese vendors, selling anything you might want, straight from the Asian mother-country! One man carried what looked like ancient chinese manuscripts. One was called "Winnie the Pooh Coloring Book" and another was entitled "Pikachu Adventures." It all sounded so exotic! I felt like I was wandering a library in feudal China!

And it still didn't stop. Here's a list of other items I saw...

• Traditional Chinese $5-10 Designer Watches
• Traditional Chinese Gucci Bags
• Traditional Chinese Personalized Belts
• Traditional Chinese NYPD Hooded Sweatshirts
• Traditional Chinese Bootleg DVD's

Oh, what a time! I feel like, even though I've never been to China, it doesn't matter anymore, because a little bit of China was brought to me. Thanks, Chinese New Year parade!

posted by Andy @ 8:19 PM