The bunting and decorations are in place. The fatted calf has been slaughtered, the fatted lamb, piglet, chicken and duckling, too. The Chinese New Year is upon us, and close to a third of the world's population is ready to party.
It's arguably the biggest celebration on the planet, one we're always loath to miss out on. So, without further ado we made a quick trip to China. Not to the Mainland exactly, but the nearest equivalent that Tokyo has to offer -- the backstreets of Ikebukuro. Our destination: Zhiyin Shitang, better known here by its Japanese name, Chion Shokudo.
You can ignore the young woman soliciting for Falun Gong and the spivs shouting down their cellphones in Shanghai dialect. Just turn right at the store selling dumplings and shao-xingjiu rice wine. Push through the doorway under the red gables and LED fairy lights, and head downstairs. Before you reach the basement you have been transported, as if via a wrinkle in space and time, to a dining room in backstreet Chengdu (the capital of Sichuan Province).