Although it may not be as large or as long-established as others, having only become a center for the Chinese community during the post-war decades, London's Chinatown is a perfectly formed little firecracker that knows how to see in the year with a bang. Customarily festooned with red lanterns, previous years have seen parades with lion and dragon dances through its streets and onward into the rest of the West End as well as acrobatics, martial arts, dance and opera displays nearby.