A woman in a red dress sits atop a red convertible decorated with flowers, holding a small object and smiling during a parade. People and vehicles are visible around her.
Olympic gold medalist and San Francisco native, Eileen Gu, elegantly regaled the crowd as Grand Marshal of San Francisco Chinese New Year Parade, on Geary Boulevard at Market Street, March 7, 2026. Photo by Jay A. Martin.

San Francisco got lucky with the weather Saturday night while hosting the Chinese New Year’s Parade 2026.

Under crystal-blue skies that gave way to twinkling stars, herds of papier-mâché white horses galloped along while fiery dragons snaked through Union Square and Chinatown to the tune of high school brass bands and the thrump-thrump of JROTC cadets. 

Grand Marshall and Olympic ski champion Eileen Gu met a community that embraced her.

Several young children wearing large dice costumes and red shirts stand together in a crowd during an outdoor event.
Students from Garfield Elementary dressed as dice and mahjong tiles prepare to march in the Chinese New Year Parade, San Francisco, Calif., March 7, 2026. Photo by Jay A. Martin.
People in yellow costumes carry a colorful dragon figure during a parade on a city street, participating in a traditional cultural celebration.
Horses and dragons from the Tak Fung Gwoon Martial Arts gallop and dance toward the start of the Chinese New Year Parade, San Francisco, Calif., March 7, 2026.  Photo by Jay A. Martin.
Two men wearing horse costumes and playing musical instruments participate in a parade, with colorful decorations and people blurred in the background.
The Year of the Horse. Chinese New Year’s Parade 2026. Photo by Jay A. Martin.
A marching band in black and white uniforms plays trombones in a crowded indoor setting, with a large audience in the background.
Chinese New Year’s Parade 2026. Photo by Jay A. Martin.
A group of people in matching red shirts and dark pants perform a coordinated dance in a street parade, with a crowd watching behind barricades.
Alaska Airlines dancers wowed the crowd with their fan dance at the Chinese New Year Parade, San Francisco, Calif., March 7, 2026.  Photo by Jay A. Martin.
Performers in colorful dragon and lion costumes participate in a parade, surrounded by a crowd during a celebration at night.
Chinese New Year’s Parade 2026. Photo by Jay A. Martin.
A crowd watches fireworks in the evening sky above a city street; a child sits on an adult’s shoulders in the foreground.
Chinese New Year’s Parade 2026, under crystal blue skies. Photo by Jay A. Martin.

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2 Comments

  1. SHAMEFUL! As a person of Chinese descent who loves Chinese rich culture and its people, one’s political views matter, especially for public figures and celebrities like Gu. It’s like her supporters and in oarticular mainland Chinese immigrants like her mother who come for the benefits of living in a first world country: freedom, democracy and hunan rights but still supporting a repressive totalitarian regime who regularly tramples on Chinese democratic dissidents, torture and murders minorities people like Uyhgur muslims and Tibetans and Christians, herding the Uyghurs into concentration (“reeducation”) camps where forced sterilizations are performed on their women and their culture is erased. None of these Chinese d luke Gu and her mom display any sort of Anerixan patriotism or condemnations of these heineous crimes committed by the CCP. To add injuries to insults, San Francisco literally paraded and praised Gu for representing the country under which these crimes against humanity are being implemented daily on a syatematic basis, crimes which Gu consistently avoided answering and criticized. Hey world, we Chinese only care for money grubbing anf fried rice and to hell with morality and love of country. Shameful!

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