The Lion Dance, a New Year's tradition to drive away evil spirits, moves through Toronto's Chinatown. (Jim Fox)

Gung Hey Fatt Choi, Gong Xi Fa Cai or Happy New Year!

However you say it - Cantonese, Mandarin or English - the Chinese lunar New Year is the start of a festive 15-day period (Feb. 18 to March 4). It just ended, but that does not mean you cannot still take in all Toronto has to offer.

To become immersed in the culture and traditions in this year of the pig (boar), I turned to Shirley Lum, congenial guru of Toronto "foodie" tours.

We joined the crowds of pre-holiday shoppers and diners in Toronto's "second" Chinatown, the Dundas-Spadina neighbourhood (there are now seven Chinatowns in Metro).

Lum meets the group under the "prosperity" moose sculpture on Dundas Street West at Beverley Street and we head off for an adventure to regale the senses.

Asian grandmas push through the crowds to select the freshest ingredients at outdoor and crammed specialty supermarkets. Families with children pick out special toys as treats and stock up on traditional snacks.

Festive feasts await as food shops display Chinese delicacies such as whole roasted pigs and steamed chickens with their heads still attached, "paying tribute" to the animal's life. The aroma of warm bakery products, spices and herbs, teas and a dim sum feast make this a cultural journey that "pleases all the senses."

Chinese Lunar New Year and Lantern Festival walks, continuing on weekends through March 4, tell of the rich symbolism, rituals and superstitions surrounding this occasion. Founder of "A Taste of the World" tours, she likes to quote Marcel Proust: "The real voyage of discovery consists not in seeking new lands, but in seeing with new eyes." To that, she adds: "And new palate and senses."

Gastronomic tours start at 10 a.m. and run for 3 1/2 hours but if the group hits it off, they can linger over lunch until 3 p.m or later as we did.

Shoppers are reflected in this Toronto Chinatown barbecue restaurant window displaying whole pigs and steamed chickens with their heads attached. (Jim Fox)

We are greeted by Lum with New Year lucky candies and learn about the customs as we walk quickly to get out of the cold at the aromatic Jin Cheng Bakery (419 Dundas St. West, 416-596-8878). Vivian Chen, whose grandfather founded the bakery a half-century ago in Taiwan, helps prepare a sampling of treats.

This includes cracked hardboiled eggs soaked in Chinese tea, soya sauce and spices as well as variety of steamed buns, munchies and Hong Kong tea.

Next stop is Po Chi Tong Chinese Natural Herbs (460 Dundas St.

W., 416-599-6336) to sip New Year's fragrant tea and nosh on dried snacks. A delicacy is dried abalone at $450 a pound and fatt choi - black sea weed Lum calls Chinese hair.

A trip through outdoor produce stands and grocers, a bustling market and Tap Phong Trading Co. with all kinds of Asian gifts and cooking products is an eye opener. Then we sample pork sliced from a window display boar at a barbecue shop.

(Jim Fox)

The bright spot is dim sum at the Bright Pearl Seafood Restaurant (346-348 Spadina Ave.; www.brightpearlseafood.com, 416-979-3988).

Manager Stephen Chan is busy as an extra chef today as we're shown to a table in the crowded dining spot beside the aisle where small sampling plates of food pass endlessly by.

There are shrimp and pork dumplings, steamed sticky rice in lotus leaves, pan fried water chestnut, hot and sour soup, steamed squid and boiled snow pea leaf - up to 100 different dishes, Chan says.

No knives or forks today as Lum shows everyone how to use chopsticks and orders a "harmonious blend" of the five Chinese meal elements - colour, aroma, flavour, shape and texture. There are chuckles around the table as everyone reads out their fortunes for the year ahead from a Chinese animal horoscope book.

Other "foodie" tours include the Qing Ming Festival in Chinatown in April; Kensington Market Multi-Ethnic Bounty, May through October; Dragon Boat Festival in Chinatown, June; Lotus Festival, Chinatown, August; Harvest Moon Festival, Chinatown, August and September; and Celebrate All the Winter Holidays in Kensington Market, December.

Foodie tour guide Shirley Lum prepares some Chinese treats for sampling at the Jin Cheng Bakery. (Jim Fox)

There are Re/Discover Your City tours, ghost walks and literary outings for Charles Dickens and Lucy Maud Montgomery birthdays.

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Where to stay:

For the Toronto getaway, we stayed in at the Sutton Place (955 Bay St.; www.suttonplace.com; 1-866-378-8866), an elegant European-style hotel.

Its 230 guestrooms and 64 suites have original works of art and antiques while Accents Restaurant and Bar features continental cuisine. There's an indoor pool, fitness centre and saunas.

The centrally located hotel has been recently redecorated including custom-designed ergo-health beds, said Christopher Ashby, director of sales and marketing.

Room rates range from $189 and suites from $289, with numerous getaway packages and adjoining rooms for families.

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If you go:

The Chinese New Year tours are priced at $38; $35, seniors and students; $25, children to age 12.

For a schedule of tours: www.torontowalksbikes.com

E-mail: info@torontowalksbikes.com

or call (416) 923-6813.

Jim Fox can be reached at onetanktrips@hotmail.com