Happy Lunar New Year! (audio)

A Martinez (Take Two, SCPR.org, KPCC FM, 2-8-16), Joz Wang (CEO of 8Asians.com), Arcadia filmmaker Tom Xia; CC Liu, Crystal Quintero, Seth Auberon, Wisdom Quarterly UPDATED

Dragon dance, Chinese New Year parade, Hong Kong 2014. Communities across Asia are coming together to welcome the Year of the Fire Monkey 2016 (Philippe Lopez/AFP/Getty).

No, I'm actually excited about this year. Can you imagine all the bananas to eat?

 

Celebrations last two weeks! Take Two's A Martinez speaks with two Asian-Americans -- Joz Wang, CEO of the culture site 8Asians.com and Tom Xia, a filmmaker based in Arcadia -- to find out how traditions around Lunar New Year are evolving in the U.S.
 

My own year, huh? Well, I'm busy and wet.

It's the Lunar New Year today. And here in Southern California, there are lots ways to celebrate. If one wants to go to a local parade and see fireworks, we're pretty well covered.

  

But if you're a young Asian American and you don't have immediate connections with any family members, it can be difficult to celebrate the traditions that make the holiday famous in China.

I'm on fire. I'll take this year. Banana?

Many children of Chinese immigrants came to the United States at a very young age, and they say their traditions for Lunar New Year are still evolving.

Take Two's A Martinez spoke with two young Asian-Americans -- Joz Wang, CEO of the culture site Eight-Asians.com and Tom Xia, a filmmaker based in Arcadia, to find out how their traditions are changing. More+AUDIO
  

Chinese Lunar New Year celebrations are going on all over Asia (Larissa Lingad).

Revelers do a Lion Dance during the annual Chinese New Year parade in Manhattan’s Chinatown, New York City, Feb. 22, 2015 (Bryan Thomas/Getty Images).

• For the first time, New York schools close in honor of Lunar New Year Students at New York City public schools will not have school Monday [Feb. 8th] for the Lunar New Year. This is the first time public schools will be closed to honor the holiday that is celebrated by several Asian communities.
• New York City Public Schools To Close On Lunar New Year (CBS) Jun 23, 2015 ...Lunar New Year Becomes Official Holiday On NYC School Calendar ... honoring the extraordinary diversity of our students,” said Schools Chancellor ... Jersey school districts in closing its public schools on Lunar New Year.
• Reminder: All NYC Schools are Closed Monday, Feb. 8th in honor of Lunar New Year...Posted on February 7, 2016. This entry was posted in General News. 
• NYC Public Schools to Honor Lunar New Year (NBC NY) 
• Pussy Riot member coming to UCLA, Feb. 11, 2016 (also in Seattle, San Francisco, and Washington, DC)
• Super Bowl mania: the NFL and women
• Sen. Weiler’s mission to make PORN a public health crisis
• PHOTOS: photographer takes us backstage at the Oscars
• SoCal Taiwanese close follow news of Tainan quake:

 Monks pray near list of patients by collapsed building, Tainan, Taiwan (Lam Yik Fei/Getty).

 

An 8-year-old girl was among at least four survivors rescued today from a high-rise apartment building in Taiwan.  A 6.4-magnitude quake hit Saturday, killing at least 38 people in Tainan city in the southern part of the country.  While authorities have rescued more than 170 people, more than 100 are still believed to be under the debris.  In Southern California, home to the largest community of Taiwanese living in the U.S., relatives and friends are following the news of the rescue effort closely. More