2006 is the Year of the Dog. 
Miss China, (Queen of the Chinese New Year parade).
While waiting for the parade to start, Astrid gets a ride on top of Uwe's head.
"I dunno what I'm supposed to be looking at but there sure are a lot of people."
Visiting Queens of Asian countries. Miss Korea wearing the white gown is in the forefront.
I used to drive down this street when I worked in the financial district of Downtown LA. It's much more of a scenic drive, driving through China Town rather than driving on the freeway, but the traffic unfortunately is just as bad. Although seeing the huge chicken on top of the building used to brighten my day. 
As in previous years the local and state government officials made appearances. The most notable however was our Mayor of LA - Antonio Villaraigosa who appeared in traditional Chinese dress. The photo above is courtesy of Jimw's Flickr photo album. When Villaraigosa passed by us he was on the other side of the street with his back turned to us, shaking hands as he ran by, so I wasn't able to get a good photo of him. But thanks to the Internet, I was able to find the pic I was looking for.
Finally the dragons!
A close up of the dragons.
This year the parade was not very coordinated. There were long lulls in between the parade where nothing was happening and waiting in the hot sun got old fast. (I went a few years ago and the parade seemed much more organized and coordinated then. There were no long lulls that I can remember.) I was dying of thirst and Uwe was dying of hunger so we decided to go to a restaurant for food and drink.Does anyone remember "Where's Waldo"? They were a series of children's books with illustrated drawings and you had to find the character "Waldo" in a crowd. Well here's my version called "Where's Uwe?". I've inserted a large white arrow to help point him out. He's wearing a red, hooded sweatshirt/jacket and he's pushing Astrid in her stroller.
I like that I have a nice shot of the festivities and hanging paper lanterns, while still having a pic of Uwe in the crowd.
For this one you don't need an arrow to point Uwe out. If you can't see him here, you seriously need to get your eyes checked.
Astrid checking out an Asian fan.
I was thinking about buying Astrid a Chinese dress, but it would be such a waste to get one for just one day, and I didn't think she'd be very comfortable in it. (I am however going to buy her a traditional Korean dress for her 1st birthday in April.)
Colored smoke bombs.Uwe was concerned about the firecrackers scaring Astrid but they didn't seem to bother her. If anything they were just loud and annoying but the baby was fine through it all.
More smoke bombs. This is some guy standing in the street filming the smoke. It reminded me of a war scene.
Astrid and Mama at a Chinese restaurant. We were seated next to a window facing the street so that we could watch the rest of the parade.
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