A suona (Chinese horn) soloist from Henan province performs on Saturday morning in the Kogod Courtyard of American Art Museum in Washington where the Chinese New Year Family event was held to greet the Year of the Monkey, which falls on Feb 8. [Photo by Chen Weihua/China Daily USA]

A suona (a double-reeded horn) solo of the Lantern Festival, a flute solo of Hanging Red Lanterns followed by erhu (Chinese two-string fiddle) solo of New Horse Racing, performed by artists from central China’s Henan province, filled the 28,000-square-feet space of the courtyard with Chinese New Year festive mood. Many parents standing in the back of the huge crowds had to ride their children on their shoulders to see the performance.

Matts Wycoff, holding on shoulders his two-year-old son Max dressed in bright silk Chinese costume, was among the crowds. "We enjoyed the dragon dance, we saw the panda, the moneky," said Wycoff, with his wife Michelle standing next to him. The family was travelling from Arizona. Many people often mistakenly refer lion dance as dragon dance.

"I had experienced seven or eight Chinese New Years already and Max is still learning how to say gung hey fat choi (a Cantonese greeting wishing people a prosperous New Year)," said Wycoff, his wife half Vietnamese and half Chinese.