Beverly Hills celebrates Chinese New Year in typical grand style

LOS ANGELES - While scores of little white Christmas lights still twinkled along the streets of Beverly Hills on Friday night, the affluent Southern California city was embracing another holiday tradition: Chinese Lunar New Year.

In the gilt-trimmed lobby of Beverly Hills' historic Saban Theater, gold-tasseled red lanterns, emblematic of Chinese New Year, swayed above the capacity crowd that had gathered to experience a taste of one of China's most important holidays.

"The best thing about this event is that it allows us to bring China's wonderful culture and traditions to Beverly Hills," said Julie Wagner, event chairwoman of the Beverly Hills Club.