While it's not exactly sunbathing season yet in San Francisco, the weather should be fine for the Southwest Airlines Chinese New Year Parade, which is Sat., Feb. 3, from 5:30 to 8:30pm. The parade, which is one of the longest-running annual celebrations in San Francisco, begins at Market and Second Street and ends in Chinatown at Kearney and Jackson. The parade is free unless you want a "Bleacher Ticket." The bleacher seats (the ones that are left - a second location was sold out as of 1/23/01) are located on Kearney, between California and Sacramento, and cost $20 per person. For more information on bleacher seats, call +1 (415) 391 9680 or +1 (415) 982 3000. For a map of the complete parade route, click here.

In addition to the parade, the Year of the Serpent will be celebrated with the annual Chinese New Year Community Street Fair on Sat., Feb. 3 (10am-4:30pm) and Sun., Feb. 4 (9am-5pm). The street fair is also free, and will occupy Grant Avenue between Broadway and California and Pacific Avenue between Columbus and Stockton.

Another really interesting and unique Chinese New Year's activity is Jayson Wechter's San Francisco Chinese New Year Treasure Hunt on Sat., Feb. 3, 5pm - 9:30pm (arrive at 4:30 if you are not pre-registered). I have never participated myself, but it sounds like great fun and a terrific way to mix with locals and see parts of the city that you probably would not get to otherwise.

According to the website (which you should definitely consult for detailed information), this treasure hunt "is a game of urban exploration and discovery played on the colorful streets of San Francisco's Chinatown, North Beach, and Telegraph Hill. A thousand amateur sleuths explore obscure alleys and hidden lanes solving clues created by local private eye Jayson Wechter." The FAQ section of the hunt website says that you don't really need to know San Francisco to be able to solve the clues, and participants are all provided with a map and street index.

The hunt begins inside the lobby of the One Market Plaza building (#1 Market Street, between Spear and Steuart) and costs $25 per person ($5 for kids under 14); proceeds benefit Hamilton Family Services, which provides shelter and support services for homeless families in San Francisco. The only problem is that the hunt takes place during the parade, so you have to pick one or the other.

If you're really feeling energetic, you may want to sign up for the Chinese New Year YMCA 10K/5K/Run/Walk, which starts at 8am on Sun., Feb. 4, at the Chinatown YMCA (855 Sacramento Street, at Stockton). Registration for this event is $20, and you can get more information by calling +1 (415) 576 9622.

For those who just can't get enough of Asian culture, there is also the San Francisco Arts of Pacific Asia Show in the Festival Pavilion at Fort Mason. Featuring "75 international antique and Asian art dealers offering all periods of exceptional Asian art and artifacts of the peoples of the Pacific and mainland Asian region," the show will run Fri., Feb. 2, 11am - 8pm; Sat., Feb. 3, 11am - 7pm; and Sun., Feb. 4, 11am - 5pm. Regular admission is $10, $12 with the show catalog.

Since this is not a free exhibition, my advice is that unless you actually plan to purchase something, skip it and go to the Asian Art Museum in Golden Gate Park instead. It's a huge, fabulous, comprehensive collection, and it will only cost you $7 to get in. The museum has new hours, which you can find on the website.

The weekend following the Asian art show, Fort Mason's Festival Pavilion will host the San Francisco Tribal, Folk, and Textile Art Show, featuring "the collections of top dealers specializing in museum-quality pre-1940s folk and ethnic art from around the world... strong focus on textiles, sculpture, and jewelry." Show hours are 11am - 7pm on Fri., Feb. 9-10, and 11am - 5pm on Sun., Feb. 11. Admission is $10.

Once again, there is a museum that may be a better choice for seeing some folk art. The Museum of Craft and Folk Art is also located in Fort Mason, in Landmark Building A. The museum has no permanent collection, but for only $3 the current exhibit may very well be sufficient to satisfy your folk art viewing needs!

That same weekend, Russian culture will be the focus at the Russian Festival, located (naturally) at the Russian Center of California (2450 Sutter Street). The festival features the usual mixture of food, music, art, folk dancing, and singing, but I reckon the real draw will be "the world's largest assortment of flavored vodkas." Now that's what I call glasnost!

With Spring comes flowers, and they will be in abundance in San Francisco this month. For the serious orchid lovers (who are a breed apart from us common flower children), the Pacific Orchid Exposition is just the thing. The exposition features a huge sample of the seemingly endless varieties of orchids, and includes plants for sale.

The theme of this year's exposition is "2001: An Orchid Odyssey," and the location is the ever-popular Festival Pavilion at Fort Mason. The dates are Fri., Feb. 23 (10am - 6pm), Sat., Feb. 24 (9am - 6pm) and Sun., Feb. 25 (10am - 5pm). General admission is $10, and children 12 and under are admitted free. Proceeds benefit the San Francisco Orchid Society, a nonprofit group dedicated to preserving orchids (which also means preserving their habitats, such as tropical rainforests).

Last but not least is TulipMania, at Pier 39 from Feb. 24 through Mar. 4. More than 39,000 (!) beautiful, brilliantly colored tulips from all over the world will be displayed throughout Pier 39 for all to enjoy. Free guided tours - which will describe the different varieties, where they're from, and how to care for them (there will even be handouts with planting tips, etc) - will be held daily at 10am and 1pm, rain or shine. Look for the TulipMania tour meeting signs near the flagpole right at the entrance to Pier 39.

Author's Note: Chinatown
I promised to include more details about Chinatown in this month's update, but I've decided that it is such a great neighborhood it deserves an article of it's own. Check the In the City section of the San Francisco Guide for my Chinatown article [Editor's Note: Coming soon!], which includes a number of photographs that I took while wandering around in late December and January. Hope you enjoy it.

Questions?
If you want more information about this area you can email the author or check out our North America Insiders page.