Chinese New Year

Drew and I went to Yokohama, which is home to the largest China Town in Japan, to celebrate the Chinese New Year on February 10th.  I loved seeing all of the beautiful gates and temples.  The Chinese style is very colorful and somewhat gaudy, but I really like it.

There was an excessive amount of incense burning at this temple.  I could barely breath and had to escape the scene before bits of ash floating through the air could blind me.

Drew spotted a panda store where everything they sold had a panda on it.  How fun!

Panda slippers, why not?!

We got to see a parade with firecrackers, drums, and a dancing dragon.  Thank goodness Drew had the camera because I could barely see over the kids on their parent's shoulders.  Maybe I should have hopped on Drew.

There are hundreds of restaurants within China Town, but it seemed that more than half of them sold the same exact thing.  Steamed dumplings filled with things like meat, beans, and even chocolate.  They're good, but no need for such volume.  

Another steamed dumpling stand

A good chunk of the fun was looking in the shops.  This one had a whole wall with traditional Chinese medicine remedies.  Shark fin seemed to be very popular. 

After a few hours in Yokohama, Drew was booking it back to the train station.  Guess he can only handle these crowds for so long.