The Chinese New Year, or the Spring Festival, is the most important celebration observed in China, with cultural and historic significance. The festival signals the beginning of spring, and the start of a new year according to the Chinese lunar calendar.

Chinatown, Chicago, IL
February 15, 2021
EOS 5DIII and EF 85mm f/1.4L IS USM, captured in RAW and processed in Adobe Lightroom 6

Happy Lunar New Year! by Paul Sager, on Flickr


Chicago's Chinatown is a neighborhood located in the South Side of Chicago, centered on Cermak and Wentworth Avenues. Over a third of Chicago's current Chinese population resides in this ethnic enclave, making it one of the largest concentrations of ethnic Chinese in the United States. The present Chinatown location formed around 1912, after settlers moved steadily south from the first enclaves were established near Chicago's downtown Loop in the 19th century.

Happy Lunar New Year!


The Year of the Ox started February 12, 2021, the second of the 12-year sequence of the Chinese zodiac animals of the Chinese calendar. In the Chinese culture, like Native cultures in the Americas, there is a story / myth explaining the existence of absolutely everything. According to legend, the Jade Emperor invited the twelve animals of the Chinese zodiac to a going away party before he left the earth. The first animal to arrive was the rat. The rat had hitched a ride on the back of the ox when crossing the final river, arriving first to the party.

If you were born in the year of an Ox, (1925, 1937, 1949, 1961, 1973, 1985, 1997, 2009, 2021), you have an honest nature. Oxes are known for diligence, dependability, strength and determination. These reflect traditional conservative characteristics.

Pacific Global Bank


China's lunar calendar is according to the moon. New Year always starts with a new moon. The calendar also reflects the sun. Chinese New Year is always 1 to 2 months after the shortest day of the year (the winter solstice, December 21 or 22). The holiday time was chosen for farmers. It's a good time for them to get together, relax, and pray for the next year of farming, as it's the slack time before the spring ploughing begins.

Happy Lunar New Year!


The number nine and dragons are very important in Chinese culture. Chicago's Nine Dragon Wall is made of glazed tile from China and is modeled after the wall in Beihai Park in Beijing. The Chinatown mural replicates the large dragons and over 500 smaller dragons painted in red, gold and blue signifying the Chinese focus on good fortune. The Nine Dragon Wall is one of the only three such replicas outside of China.

Nine Dragon Wall by Paul Sager, on Flickr


Chinese New Year, like Christmas in the West, is "the season of good will" in China, so most people receive a red envelope from someone, whether employer or family. Gifts of chickens were always welcome, but for family members traveling long distances, envelopes of money were more practical, especially for children. According to many New Year legends, evil spirits are scared of red, so red envelopes were originally used to suppress or ward off demons while giving money to family, friends and others.

Happy Lunar New Year! by Paul Sager, on Flickr


Visiting family members, decorating, giving gifts and greetings, having a big family meal, and doing some religious practices such as making offerings to ancestors or lighting incense, are some of the essentials of celebrating the Chinese New Year.

Mrs Gu Skewers


The first Chinese arrived in Chicago after 1869 when the First Transcontinental Railroad was completed. Many Chinese lost their jobs after the completion of the transcontinental railroad, as they had made up 90% of the workforce for the Central Pacific Railroad. By the late 1800s, 25% of Chicago's approximately 600 Chinese residents settled along Clark Street between Van Buren and Harrison Streets near Chicago's Loop.

Following the 1906 San Francisco earthquake, Chinese Americans arrived in Chicago in droves, following family members who had already moved east along the railroad. The move to the new South Side Chinatown started in earnest in 1912. The new Chinatown would come to hold over one-third of Chicago’s then two-thousand strong Chinese population soon after its founding.

Happy Lunar New Year!


Chicago's Chinatown landmark gateway was installed in 1975. The Chinatown Gate marks the entrance to the heart of Chicago's Chinatown, with its numerous shops, restaurants, churches, grocers and bakeries.

China Gate


The four large Chinese characters near the top of the gate translate into "the world belongs to the commonwealth", which was a famous saying in the early part of the 1900's and reflects the spirit and determination of the Chinese people.

China Gate


'Start of Spring' is an oddly named solar term, because spring is still a month or more away in China's cold north, and wintry weather still lingers in temperate south China. However, Chinese still celebrate (the coming) spring with the Spring Festival.

Happy Lunar New Year!


The " Fú " character is a very common decoration during the Chinese Spring Festival, meaning good fortune in Chinese. A tradition practiced in many regions in China is to paste the Fú character upside down. In Chinese the word for upside down, ”dao” sounds similar to the word for arrive, “dào” Thus, pasting the character upside down implies that good fortune has, or will arrive.

The fifteenth day is the last day of the New Year celebration with red lanterns for luck everywhere. These red lanterns symbolize good luck, prosperity, reunion, happiness, protection, harmony and all that is good.

China Gate


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My nephew experienced a power outage in Southern California and when power resumed, his external Seagate drive (possibly 10 years old) would not work. I know there have been numerous postings in the past about crashed drives with suggestions how to fix. However, none that came up in my search suggested the names of companies that had success.

Does anyone have a company that was successful in restoring an old drive?

I know he should have had a better back up system ( I use time machine with a WD unit and Backblaze for the cloud and have been happy with the results), but I am trying to help him deal with the current situation.

Thanks, Stan

Hello all,
Thought I'd do an intro. First a little about myself. I'm new to photography (hence the biker term as a newbie). My significant other a couple years ago bought a D7500 as a Xmas gift knowing I love photography and having mentioned I wish I could take great pictures. The camera, just like my Harley I know there are better one's out there, but it came from the heart and I love it and her for gift.
Unfortunately this time last year I was under going chemo and radiation for throat cancer. It's a shit show nobody wants. Side effects are tough.
Anyhow, while getting cisplatin (chemo) I came across a quote and it resonated with me.
Thank you all in advance for the advice I'll be posting. Hopefully my chemo brain (Google it) won't be too annoying!