Lunar New Year is more than two weeks away, and this is the time when families that celebrate will be grabbing all their necessities. Those families were able to do that Sunday at Oakland Chinatown’s weekend Bazaar. The bazaar put on by the Oakland Chinatown Chamber of Commerce is in its 34th y ear.This year, organizers doubled their footprint and vendors. “All your traditional items that you would find like what we do for Lunar New Year we have it here at Oakland Chinatown At The Lunar New Year Bazaar,” said Stephanie Tran with the Oakland Chinatown Chamber Of Commerce. Mayor Barbara Lee came to celebrate the year of the horse, which symbolizes vitality, speed, and perseverance. But it’s also a chance for the community and city leaders to showcase how the neighborhood has been working to change its image. Saturday, leaders also cut the ribbon for a new phone store coming into Pacific Renaissance Plaza in the heart of Chinatown. Councilmember Charlene Wang, who represents the area, said while crime has fallen there, she has still worked to approve overtime for Oakland police officers to patrol the neighborhood until march. “We have safety what we need is foot traffic please help one of the oldest Chinatown’s in North America survive and thrive by bringing your business here to Oakland Chinatown,” Wang said. “Definitely want it to flourish again. I think before the pandemic I used to come out here for lunch during the work week it’d be a lot of people but now it’s not as much so it’s kind of nice seeing this crowd out here,” said Jennifer Chan from Hayward. ...read more read less