The rain held off just long enough for the "Oregon Art Beat" team to experience the magic of lantern viewing at the Lan Su Chinese Garden in downtown Portland.
"Chinese New Year is the biggest festival of the year. It's a time for family to get together," says Venus Sun, Visitor Experience Coordinator.
Each new year falls under one of the twelve signs in the Chinese zodiac, and each sign is represented by an animal. "Depends on which year you were born, you would be assigned a different zodiac animal," says Sun. Your zodiac animal could be anything from a rooster to a rabbit, a dragon to a dog.
Lantern viewing caps off Chinese New Year festivities, which include martial arts, calligraphy, tiger dances, and a dancing illuminated dragon.