Chinese New Year begins on 23 January 2012 and will mark the start of the Year of the Dragon and people form all over the world will be celebrating with the Chinese this week. The bustling atmosphere and finger-licking-good food on offer make Chinatowns worth a visit at any time of year, but we’ve made up a list with the 5 cities around the world that host the craziest parties, the most colorful parades and the best firework shows New Year’s Eve!

#1. New York

With more than 150,000 Mandarin-speaking residents, the New York neighborhood is the largest Chinese community outside Asia. Whether it is the exotic sight of whole roasted pigs hanging in butcher-shop windows, the whiff of freshly baked lotus buns or the drawl of phony goods salesmen along Canal St, a stroll down its streets is a truly authentic experience.

#2. London

Right in the heart of London’s Leicester Sq, but  with atmosphere that would transport you miles away (5727 miles, to be precise). Lisle and Gerrard Streets are where the London’s Chinese community and culture are concentrated. although the oriental gates are fake, the narrow streets of this quarter are oozing with life.

#3. San Francisco

Along the narrow streets of this San Francisco’s neighborhood, the Chinese community has grow up fast into a focal point for North American Mandarin speaking residents.  Chinatown is an active realm that continues to develop its customs, languages, places of worship, social clubs, and identity. Immerse yourself in the Asian traditions and lifestyle, filled with herbal shops, temples, pagoda roofs and dragon parades.

#4. Sydney

Dixon St is the heart and soul of Australia’s biggest Chinatown. The lavishly decorated with bamboo tiles dragon gates open up a narrow, shady pedestrian area with a string of distinctly Asian styled buildings, herb shops, grocery stores and lovely exotic restaurants.

#5. Toronto

The Chinatown in Toronto is a truly cultural immersion – you could easily forget that you are in the middle of North America and dive into a graphically overloaded sea of foot-reflexology practitioners, lousy digitally accompanied buskers, people sucking on coconuts and traditional medical shops selling ginseng, shriveled squid and dried chilli by the bucketful.

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