Chinese New Year in Chinatown

Happy Chinese New Year! The year of the snake has arrived...

And to celebrate, here are a few oriental snippets of my day in London.

We arrived just in time to catch the parade. There were a lot of people, music & red - which I adored - seeing as it's my favourite colour...

The snake itself was brilliant. It's so interesting to see how the people under control this humungous puppet. It's like a dance.

The make up some people in the parade wore was divine, let alone all the delicately designed headpieces and kimonos.

As the parade moved along, we followed the crowds down to Trafalgar square. It was packed with stalls, tourists & once again, RED.

There was a brilliant atmosphere despite the freezing wind & rain - hence I just had to add this photo in...

However my favourite aspect of the celebration was the beautiful decoration of the area. Lanterns were hung in all the streets like bunting, filling Soho with colour.

I also received my first fortune cookie. Apparently Friday will be my lucky day - we shall see...

Once my feet were completely frozen & my shoes completely ruined, we decided it was just about time to go indoors, so ventured into the National Portrait Gallery.

This place is wonderful, I was particularly captured by the more modern pieces, aren't they just brilliant?
Home to the Duchess of Cambridge's first portrait & a spectrum of incredible pieces, I definitely recommend going here.

We then left the gallery to meet up with some friends for a gathering, the food was delicious & people were lovely. Next year I recommend making the journey.