Chinese myths maintained

Meet the San Francisco crew that makes dancing lions during the Lunar New Year

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In order to construct a lion frame, Chan and his crew cut bamboo into long, thin strips, which they heat with a candle or hot air gun to make pliable.

They then bind the bent strips with about 1,000 knots of paper tape. Building the bamboo skeleton is often the most difficult step.

Although it is customary to burn unused lions, symbolically returning them to heaven, Chan and his friends have never done so. They half-jokingly refer to themselves as the Lion Rescue Squad.

"We've never had to burn a lion because we know how to fix them," Chan said.

Through their side business, Of Course Lion Source, which Chan likens to "a hobby that kind of went out of control", people from across the country send them Chinese lions and dragons to repair. They've also salvaged a severely dilapidated lion they found abandoned in a park in Oakland.

(Both lions and dragons are meant to bring good fortune and ward off evil spirits; dragons are longer and require more performers.)

"Anybody that makes these things, prepares these things, they're putting not just their time, they're putting in their soul," Chan said. "A little bit of me goes into this."