New York

New York City is home to several Chinatowns across three boroughs — Manhattan, Queens and Brooklyn — with the largest Chinatown in the U.S. situated in lower Manhattan. Considering all three neighborhoods are easily accessible by public transit, you could visit all three for the ultimate Lunar New Year experience.

Lower Manhattan’s celebrations are unsurprisingly the city’s most prominent, with elaborate decorations and a can’t-miss parade. The lion dancing, which features dancers in stunning lion costumes, is not to be missed — and is said to bring spectators good luck for the new year. Be sure to visit the historic Doyers Street, which is especially festive, with its brightly painted street mural and charming rows of lights and lanterns strung above the street. You’ll also find 100-year-old street signs here with names displayed in traditional Chinese characters.

This is the perfect place to grab a bite to eat — particularly at Nom Wah, a vintage tea and dim sum parlor that has been open since 1920, making it the oldest continuously running restaurant in Manhattan’s Chinatown. Schedule a stop at Chinatown’s Museum of Chinese in America to explore their collection of more than 85,000 artifacts documenting Chinese American diaspora since the early 1900s. The museum will hold a free Lunar New Year Family Festival with special programs and festivities to celebrate the Year of the Rabbit.

San Francisco

Coming in at a close second for the largest Chinatown in the U.S., San Francisco is also where you’ll find the country’s oldest and perhaps most iconic Chinatown. Established in 1848, this cultural quarter now occupies some 30 city blocks, and is one of the city’s top attractions with music and dance groups, a children’s orchestra, the Chinese Culture Center and the Chinese Historical Society of America. Through its famed gate — at the intersection of Grant and Bush streets — you’ll find specialty stores selling Chinese herbs, ceramics and other goods, as well as tea shops, karaoke bars, restaurants, galleries and cocktail lounges.

Lunar New Year celebrations here include a famous Grand Parade with marching bands, lion dancers, stilt walkers, acrobats, decorated floats and a 28-foot-long Golden Dragon, operated by a team of more than 100 people. Other festivities include a community street fair (with fortune telling, Chinese calligraphy, drumming and traditional dancing) and an open-air flower market fair selling fruit, candy, flowers and plants.

If you want to stay close to the action, consider Hilton San Francisco Financial District or Hilton San Francisco Union Square, both of which are conveniently located within walking distance of Chinatown.

Boston

Famous for its clam chowder, cream pies and some of the country’s most die-hard baseball fans, Boston is also where you’ll find the third-largest Chinatown in the U.S. After walking through contemporary Chinatown Park, which features plants native to Asia and marks the entrance to Boston’s Chinatown neighborhood, snap a picture in front of the eye-catching traditional paifang archway. Discover a diverse blend of Chinese, Thai, Cambodian, Vietnamese and Japanese bakeries, restaurants, shops and food markets as you admire the area’s many colorful murals. The city’s centralized Chinese New Year Parade is a great event for family and friends to welcome in a prosperous year. Activities include origami, lantern crafting, lion dance performances and calligraphy.