Family Traditions

While I'm sure it's not the average American family's Christmas tradition to eat dim sum and wander the streets of Chinatown, it is most certainly what my family looks forward to every year. We enjoy a fabulous traditional Christmas Day with turkey and mulled wine, but every year we gather together in downtown LA and eat cha siu bao until we think our stomachs will explode. This year that blessed event happened today. I figure if you are reading my blog and as it is Christmas, you might as well get a taste of my family since that's what this holiday is all about.

The best part left to mention is that after we stuff ourselves, we head over to the "wishing well" on Broadway, throw pennies, and then….we jump. I honestly can't remember how this tradition started, but this year we were a ridiculous spectacle. I refused to let any kind passerby take the photos when they offered and instead I rigged my camera to a bench and used the timer to start the madness. There are about 20 photos of us laughing as we miss the flash and correct timer. I will save you from the all the rejects but one. We joked about putting out a hat to collect money seeing as we had a large crowd by the time we got one decent shot.

So, here is a very fun way to end the holiday and laugh at some people that are NOT your family:

as close as we got to the money shot…

Want to start your own family tradition in China town? Our favorite restaurant is Empress Pavilion. http://www.empresspavilion.com/

And you can get to the wishing well where these photos were taken by walking around the corner to here:

Wishing well location