Year of the Rabbit hops in

The start of the Chinese New Year is being celebrated today in Trafalgar Square and nearby Chinatown, with parades, firecrackers, acrobatics and dance displays.

If you want to mark the start of the Year of the Rabbit more locally, then get over to Canterbury next Sunday when Kent Chinese School will be celebrating with performances at the Simon Langton School Boys School from noon. Tickets cost £4 including refreshments.

Or you could simply check out what our local Chinese restaurants are doing - they may have special new year menus.

Tankerton has two Chinese eateries on opposite sides of the main street: the impressive-looking Yantze and the more homely but highly-rated China Chef.

Perhaps staying indoors in this windy weather and ordering a takeaway might be cosier. Try the Wing Wah in High Street or the Golden Wok if you live at the Seasalter end of town.

Of course, if you are brave enough and have the right cookbook (try Harbour Books' excellent range) you can do it yourself. Most of us have a wok lingering in a kitchen cupboard - or pick one up at Copperfields - and ingredients like beansprouts, soy sauce and pak choi are readily available these days.

Just make sure you have a good chopping knife and prepare all your meat and veg BEFORE you start adding them to the wok. The first time my husband and I decided to cook up a Chinese storm (a typhoon?) we happily thought we could chop as we cooked and soon got into trouble with trying to keep up. Remember, it only takes a couple of minutes to stir fry something, so you must have the next ingredient ready to fling in the pan.

We also made the mistake of trying to cook too many dishes with only one wok and not enough people to eat it all. And we boiled far too much rice.

Don't be dim - do your sums! (Sorry, couldn't resist it). Happy Chinese New Year.