San Francisco, United States - January 29, 2025 Storyline: Celebrations are in full swing for the Chinese New Year in San Francisco's Chinatown, as local officials and community leaders held a special ceremony on Wednesday to usher in the Year of the Snake with the hope to boost morale and economy of the historic neighborhood. The Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, fell on Wednesday, marking the first day of the Year of the Snake. The Chinese Chamber of Commerce of San Francisco kicked off the festivities with a grand opening ceremony, delighting families with traditional gifts like toys, fruit, red packets, and golden candy-filled eggs. Ten thousand firecrackers explode as a "dragon" parades through the streets - held up by people from all walks of life. San Francisco's new mayor Daniel Lurie had celebrated with residents in Chinatown on the night of his inauguration earlier in January. He returned to kick off the Chinese New Year in Portsmouth Square, which is known as the living room of Chinatown. Yang Shouzheng, China's Acting Consul General of the Consulate General in San Francisco, also attended the event, offering wishes for the relationship between China and the United States to continue to blossom. The Chinese Chamber of Commerce says remote work trends and a decline in tourism have stalled business in Chinatown, a situation they hope the new mayor can help improve. A recovery that community leaders say is off to a strong start but will take a lot of hard work to keep the momentum going throughout the Year of the Snake. Shotlist: San Francisco, California, USA - Jan 29, 2025: 1. Various of firecrackers, dragon parade; 2. SOUNDBITE (English) dragon parade participant (name not given) (starting with shot 1): "Everybody is supporting everybody. It's not just Chinese people, not White people, not Black - everybody - just a multicultural thing." 3. Various of opening ceremony of San Francisco Chinese Chamber of Commerce in progress; Daniel Lurie, mayor of San Francisco walking to podium; 4. SOUNDBITE (English) Daniel Lurie, mayor, San Francisco (ending with shot 5): "The snake symbolizes wisdom, flexibility and transformation - qualities that should inspire us as we embrace the opportunities of the year to come." 5. Chinese dressed in God of Wealth costume; 6. SOUNDBITE (Chinese) Daniel Lurie, mayor, San Francisco: "May you come into a good fortune! Happy New Year!" 7. Various of ceremony in progress, Yang Shouzheng, Acting Consul General of Consulate General in San Francisco invited to podium; audience 8. SOUNDBITE (English) Yang Shouzheng, Acting Consul General, Consulate General in San Francisco (partially overlaid with shot 9): "I wish for San Francisco to continue leading and achieving even greater success in the friendly exchange between China and the United States. San Francisco has bore witness to exchanges between Chinese and American people for over a century." [SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE] 9. Audience; [SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE] 10. Various of pedestrians, storefront; 11. SOUNDBITE (English) Donald Luu, President, San Francisco Chinese Chamber of Commerce (ending with shot 12): "We are very hopeful that with his policies in trying to bring more people back into the city, making the city very appealing again, people would want to come back and work in the city and that would bring the crowd not just to the surrounding area, but back into Chinatown." 12. Various of pedestrians on Chinatown streets; 13. SOUNDBITE (English) Malcolm Yeung, executive director, Chinatown Community Development Center (partially overlaid with shot 14): "To be very honest with you, visitors from China were really critical to the economy here because for the last decade before the pandemic, they were really the ones who were coming here, spending, driving it. So, until we see the return of Chinese visitors and the downtown office crowd, we're still in a state of recovery." [SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE] 14. Various of pedestrians on street, traffic; [SHOT OVERLAYING SOUNDBITE] 15. Various of Chinese diner, volunteers distributing red pockets to passersby, children receiving gifts. [Restrictions : No access Chinese mainland]