El Paso Times from El Paso, Texas • 62

Chinese Celebration Begins Feb. 7 nationwide. Comely Chinese-American contestants came from all over the country to compete for the "Miss Chinatown USA" crown in San Francisco's mid-winter talent-beauty pageant. The San Francisco Conven- launched a local "Miss Chinatown" competition. Wire photos of the winner, Pat Kan, garbed in a string of firecrack-e attracted international attention.

In 1958 the search for a Chinese New Year queen went I WE'RE MOVING FEB. 1 Executive Center i 4150 Rio Bravo, Suite 101 WmTJIORE'Sl TRAVEL SERVICE A same telephone: 533-5955 A Visit the Fort Quitman Replica At Tommy's Town It mile eatt of EI Pom and 20 miles wet of Sierrm Blanca on lnterttatm 10 Annual Pre-Lenten Carnival Starts Early In Caribbean i ctrtborrCs MEXICO AUTO INSURANCE CAMPOS Ballroom Patio m-0456 FREE! MOST UP TO DATE ROAD LOGS 2030 PAISANO 533-0062 f-5 Dally 9-12 Sunday i 490 Alberto ft Conception for meet- I innqs. receptions, parties and public dances. SAN FRANCISCO The Chinese have been doing their colorful New Year thing in "Gum San Dai Foo" (Great City of the Golden Hill) for over a century. The first reported celebration of Chinese New Year in North America occurred in San Francisco on Feb.

21, 1851, not long after the first Chinese immigrants landed on the Bar-bary Coast. According to accounts, it was "a great feast" laid on by a local Chinese leader. A dragon first appeared in the streets of San Francisco during the 1860 celebration heralding the Year of the Monkey, 4558. By the 1870's- the city's Chinese settlement near Portsmouth Square had become a gathering place for all of California's Chinese, "and many thousands tried their best to celebrate the New Year as elaborately as they did in China." In the early West there was no class of inhabitants more industriously employed than the Chinese. They worked long, grueling hours every day throughout the year except on this one momentous holiday.

At lunar festival time "all work was nominally suspended for six days and absolutely for three days. And when the Chinese celebrated their New Year in the bonanza days, all of California knew it." In spite of the exuberance of Chinatown's annual upheaval, it remained a relatively private Chinese community affair for over 90 years. BECAME PUBLIC It was not until 1953, when For Daily Personalized Tours EVERYWHERE IN MEXICO PAN AMERICAN TRAVEL 5001 ALAMEDA 778-5395 tion Visitors Bureau the Chinese Chamber as festi- val co-sponsors in 1963. Sincf then, the festival schedule has been enlivened by additional, spectator events and the pageantry enriched by hundreds of exotic, Hon Kong-crafted artifacts. Today the reverberations ot San Francisco's Chinese New Year are felt well beyond Cali fornia.

The annual parade which goes on, rain or stars draws hundreds of thousands of spectators, including fan. from afar. It's that gala season again ir Cathay-by-the-Bay. i BEGINS FEB. 7 The West's biggest Chinese community will give the Yeai of the Dog, 4668 on the lunai calendar, a rousing, nine-dav send-off starting February 7.

4 On the festival's opening da lion dancers will cavort in th; streets of Chinatown, a gian' dog will dominate the festivities in Union Square anc "Miss Chinatown USA" aspir ants will chalk up points in the Masonic Auditorium atop Noh Hill. During the week there wilT. be festival tours of Chinatowns a Pekingese dog show; a car-, nival in Portsmouth Square; a fashion show, coronation and ball spotlighting the "Mis? Chinatown" pageant participants; programs of Chinese opera, folk dancing, music and films, and special exhibits and demonstrations of every description. "Gum Lung," the magnificent, many-hued, many-legged protector of the Chinese people, will again writhe through the streets of San Francisco or the night of Saturday, February 14. The Golden Dragon's hour -long vanguard will include a young (60-foot) dragon, celestial lions, towerinf oriental deities, glittering floats, the festival queen and, her court, mythological birds and beasts and troupes of elab- PAN AMERICAN TRAVEL AND GREYHOUND AGENCY LOBBY DEL CAMINO MOTOR HOTEL 778-5395 1970 New Orleans Mardi Gras Tour Independent, Feb.

7-10 23-Day Escorted Mardi Gras Florida Nassau, Feb. 4 26-Day Escorted Spring Time in the Colonial South, Mar. 19 can phrases, and words borrowed from English, Spanish, and Carib Indians. In the final frenzy of Shrove Monday and Tuesday, riotous merrymaking continues around the clock. Ash Wednesday drops a pall: Guadeloupeens dressed in black and white parade behind corteges, wailing that Carnival is dead.

Mourners dance with torches and burn the spirit of Carnival in effigy. Then the devout quiet of Lent descends. Oranjestad, the normally sedate capital of Aruba in the Netherlands Antilles, explodes with steel bands and countless noisemakers. Outfitted in tinsel uniforms, mock legions lay siege to the main streets during the riotous Grand Carnival Parade. Between 100 and 200 steel bands compete for honors in Trinidad's lavish festival.

During the island's early celebrations from 1783 to 1833 French settlers made the Mardi Gras season largely a private affair. Indians and slaves were prohibited from participating. With the emancipation of the slaves in 1833, the holiday changed drastically. Carnival moved into the streets, where it has remained ever since. Months of preparation go into the design and production of disguises and musical instruments.

Said one elaborately costumed Trinidadian: "For a day, I am not; therefore, I can be anyone or anything I please, for, in fantasy, there is no time." WASHINGTON The final pre-Lenten spree called Carnival erupts early in the Caribbean this year to the sound of throbbing drums and dancing feet. On Martinique, the celebration lasts six weeks. Revelers and parading floats throng Fort de France, the capital, in a pageant that lasts from mid-January until midnight on Ash Wednesday, the National Georgraphic Society says. The rollicking maskers change themes and costumes each Sunday. For instance, women will don their traditional pointed madras headdresses during a week celebrating "Martinique in her native dress." The number of protruding points on a headdress is significant.

One point, experts say, means "My heart is free I'm looking for a friend." Two points affirm "I am promised; you are wasting your time." Three points signify "Don't bother me I'm happily married." But four points signal, "I'm not exactly free, but there is room for one more in my life." On nearby Guadeloupe, costumed revelers appear for weekend warm-ups of calypso singing and dancing in early January. Processions swirl through the streets as excitement builds to a proper pitch. Steel bands hammer out lively melodies on instruments made from discarded oil drums. Minstrels sing in a patois of mispronounced French, Afri DTAIDAN HOD AY TWO EXCITING WEEKS IN ROMANTIC ITALY CHOOSE ROME, OR ROME AND FLORENCE Price includes: Round trip Pan Am Jet New York-Rome 15 days niahts hotel with bath the Chinese Chamber of Commerce entered the picture as sponsors, that San Francisco's most fascinating ethnic observance became a public attraction. That year the festivities were enhanced by a striking display of Chinese pulchritude.

As a highlight of the 1953 celebration, the Chinese Chamber 00 $360 7 Sightseeing activities Hertz self drive car Gas mileage not included from New York uraieiy tusiumcu musicians and lantern-bearers. 318 E. Yandell Dr. El Paso 79902 544-3122 division of Diners Club DINERS FUGAZY TRAVEL N- St 1 I VISIT EXPO '70. Take your own hotel with you.

In 1970 American President Lines will hove eight 43-day Orient cruises while Japan's Expo 70 is in progress. You'll enjoy all the excitement in Japan, Hong Kong, Manila, Keelung ond Honolulu plus the special pleasures of life ot sea. See us for details and free brochure. Voyage rate of $1,460 includes superb cuisine and entertainment. 4 Continental Trail ways Tours Inc.

533-5969 200 W. San Antonio ROUND-THE-CLOCK A new lighting system in- of 259 Crouse-Hinds fixtures, installed out of sight stalled last year transforms the Lincoln Memorial inside and outside the monument, now enhance the in Washington into a 24-hour attraction. A total building's inherent beauty. I The Times Sunday Magazine.