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OAKLAND – The streets of Oakland’s Chinatown were strewn Wednesday with the red flakes of firecracker wrappers used to celebrate the beginning of the Chinese New Year. But Chinese who’ve celebrated the New Year in China said the day barely seemed like a holiday.  

“In China you get seven days off to celebrate,” said Lilly Chen, 30, who was working Wednesday at the Great Wall, Co. gift shop on Webster. “In the U.S.: none.”  

Stores in China usually close for the holiday, which is traditionally reserved for visiting, feasting, worshipping and gift-giving with family and friends.  

In Oakland, however, capitalism trumped tradition and many stores remained open including the banks, which posted their next holiday as President’s Day.  

“We’re here trying to make money, trying to work,” said Helen, a salesperson working at Kim Phuong Jewelry on Franklin who asked that her last name not be used.  

The two other jewelers on Kim Phuong’s block were also open.  

“Holidays mean more persons around,” Helen said. “We want to make money.”  

She and her coworker laid six lottery tickets on their New Year’s altar, hoping the gods would bless them with a win. 

Chinese-American families had the chance to celebrate New Year’s Eve by having dinner together, and last weekend the city hosted a festival that featured a dragon dance, martial arts shows and food.  

This weekend, a parade is scheduled that will feature a lion dance, said Chen. But many said they felt robbed of a genuine New Year’s Day experience.  

In China, “Kids run around in the streets,” said Warren Kwong, owner of Shoe House on Ninth Street. “People dress up. But here it’s just like usual.” 

“If you take the day off, you go get some tea, some dim sum,” said Milton Fong, owner of Mei Wei Flowers, which opened on Chinese New Year for the first time in 28 years yesterday. “But there is no lion dance, no special firecrackers.” 

“Back there (in China) people were just way more hyped up about it than over here,” said Raymond Wu, owner of a RKI Innovations Group, a company that imports blankets.  

Firecrackers ward off evil in traditional Chinese New Year celebrations, but California law prohibits using them without a license. So many of the East Bay’s Chinese Americans curtailed, and in some cases forewent, using them in their festivities. Restrictions like these make it difficult for them to carry on their tradition, some have said.  

“You’re in the minority,” said Miranda, a shopper who asked that her last name not be used. “You’re not in the majority. You have to do what they say.”  

“Americans – they understand the holiday,” said Kwong, but he added, they don’t give you the time off or the firecrackers to celebrate it. 

Holidays also need people and many said that it’s hard to feel the day is special when no one is celebrating it outside of Chinatown.  

“If you want to take a count of people celebrating, you go from here (Harrrison) to Broadway,” Wu said. “You go back to China the whole country is celebrating.” 

Some said the United States should make the day an official holiday.  

Blacks, she said, have Martin Luther King’s birthday, which everyone celebrates.  

“They should have a day – Chinese New Year – day off,” said Phyllis Lau, who was working at United Commercial Bank yesterday. “It’s a very big holiday.”