This year’s Lunar New Year kicked off with a bang in San Francisco’s Chinatown on Wednesday as 10,000 firecrackers were set off on Kearny Street.

Hundreds of spectators packed Portsmouth Square, with many pushing to the front or standing on a park bench to catch a glimpse of the performances and speeches before the lighting of the firecrackers.

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Alise is a general assignment reporter with a focus on covering government, elections, housing, crime, courts and entertainment in San Francisco and on the Peninsula. Alise is a Bay Area native from San Carlos. She studied history at University of California, Santa Cruz and first started journalism at Skyline College’s school newspaper in San Bruno. She has interned for Bay City News and for Eesti Rahvusringhääling, or Estonian Public Broadcasting. She has covered everything from the removal of former San Mateo County Sheriff Christina Corpus to the divisive battle over the Great Highway on San Francisco’s west side. Please send her any tips.