If you know Rain, BoA (shown left), and Sistar, then you already know K-Pop, Korea’s contemporary pop music and its artists.

K-Pop music is one of the fastest growing music genres in the world, and along with Korea’s popular TV drama serials, films and comic books are a growing source of export revenue for Korea.  

The growing global fan base of Korea's entertainment and cultural offerings, known as "Hallyu" or the "Korean Wave" feels more like a tidal wave in some countries. In France, for example, fans mostly in their youth sold out a concert in Paris reportedly in fifteen minutes. Several hundred fans who missed out on tickets held a rally and danced to K-Pop music in front of the Louvre Museum campaigning for a second concert. They got their wish for a second concert which also sold out in minutes. Aflash mob as witnessed by this YouTube video shows hundreds of fans from all ethnicities crowding the Charles de Gaulle airport in Paris last June, 2011 to welcome their favorite K-Pop artists. (image right)

On December 31, 2011 Korea's Culture, Sports and Tourism Minister Choe Kwang-shik announced a 2012 policy to expand support of Hallyu, to help keep the wave of Korean pop culture surging across its borders. The Korean government also hopes to attract more Hallyu fans into the areas of food, tourism, fashion and other cultural and entertainment offerings.

THE YEAR OF THE DRAGON

begins January 23, 2012 with observances that continue 15 days.

The Dragon is considered by many to be the most auspicous year
in the twelve year cycle of the Chinese zodiac.

Go out and bring in the new year!

Read author and Feng Shui expert Angi Ma Wong's predictions here. 

Here are just a sample of the many events celebrating the Year of the Dragon around the country, from the San Francisco Bay Area to Las Vegas, Los Angeles, Beverly Hills, Monterey Park, CA, New York City, Flushing, Queens, Vancouver, Portland, Oregon, Richmond, British Columbia, Toronto, Washington DC, Milpitas, Fremont, Palo Alto, Campbell, San Jose, Foster City, Redwood City, Saratoga, Cupertino, Newark, CA, San Bruno, and beyond! 

(Compiled from news sources around the country. Please confirm all dates, times and locations independently if you plan to attend any of these events.
Dragon photo by Lia Chang.)

SAN FRANCISCO:

Jan 14-15: San Francisco Flower Market Fair and Ribbon-Cutting Ceremony 

From April 1 to 29, Brooklyn Botanic Garden (BBG) celebrates Hanami, the Japanese cultural tradition of experiencing each moment of the cherry blossom season, from the first buds to the full canopy to the multitudes of falling blossoms blanketing the ground.

Cherry Blossoms at Brooklyn Botanic Garden (Photo by Lia Chang)

In Japan, long-established customs associated with Hanami include strolling among the trees and capturing falling cherry petals in open palms. Brooklyn Botanic Garden is the United States’ finest site to experience Hanami, with more Japanese flowering cherries in one place, and a more diverse collection of cherry cultivars, than anywhere in the world outside Japan.

Japanese Hill-and-Pond Garden: weeping Higan cherry, Prunus subhirtella ‘Pendula’. (Photo by Lia Chang)

During the Hanami season, visitors to BBG can enjoy several highlights inspired by its collection of over 220 flowering cherry trees:

Free Hanami tours (Saturdays and Sundays at 3 p.m.) focusing on BBG’s Japanese plant collections and specialty gardens, including the cherries, the C.V. Starr Bonsai Museum, and the Tree Peony Collection.
• Meet the Curator session with Chris Roddick, senior arborist
• Selection of special Japanese menu items at BBG’s Zagat-rated Terrace Café
• The Hanami Collection at BBG’s Gift Shop (both on-site and online atshop.bbg.org), featuring handpicked items inspired by the Garden’s blossoms and Japanese aesthetics

Continue Reading