Chinese New Year in Kansas City: Bo Lings and others gearing up

Just for the record, Mayor Mark Funkhouser was born in 1949, the Chinese Year of the Ox. (According to one website, this means he tends to be “eccentric, bigoted, and angers easily…”.) But for this year’s celebration of Chinese New Year, the Year of the Rabbit — a year that reportedly ushers in prosperity, health and fortune — Funkhouser has proclaimed the week of January 31 through February 6 as Kansas City’s first “Chinese Week.”

A number of local restaurants and cultural organizations are gearing up for Chinese New Year festivities, with the actual Chinese New Year’s Day falling on Thursday, February 3.