The Year of the Tiger with Tweens

"Gung Hay Fat Choi!" According to the Chinese Zodiac, this year which begins February 14, 2010 and is the Year of the Tiger. Chinese legend pegs the Year of the Tiger as a time of strength, determination, and persistence. It is to be a year of stability and growth (thank heavens!)

Ring in the Year of the Tiger with your tween with a few fun activities.

Ms. Twixt and family will be making paper fortune cookies, and of course, eating Chinese food. Because we tend to celebrate every little thing, our tweens will get a little red Chinese takeout box (from the Paper Source, $4 for 5 boxes) stuffed with a fun fortune-telling fish, a Magic-8 ball lipgloss, and real fortune cookies from our favorite local Chinese restaurant (City Lights in Dupont Circle).

Tiger cupcakes would be a cute dessert!

Some other super cute things we saw were these colorful cotton Chinese slippers (Item# FT03C-CNP from Pearl River Trading, $4.50/pair - yes, $4.50!), a Chinese takeout carton purse (this one is $14.95 from mables.com) or these adorable re-usable shopper totes from Dumpling Dynasty ($7.50 to $19.50 at Pearl River)

This year, the Chinese New Year Parade in Washington, DC (complete with Kung Fu demonstrations, traditional Chinese dragons, and cultural booths dotting the street) will be in our Chinatown downtown (at Gallery Place Metro) on Sunday, February 21. A five-story high firecracker that will be ignited at 3:45 p.m., and according to the Chinatown Chamber of Commerce’s website, more than 4,000 red packets with key chain or lucky money will be given away during the parade.

Do you have recommendations for where to go for dim sum in D.C.'s Chinatown? Please comment!

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