Sen. Mark Warner, D-Va., rang in "the year of the snake" with a lion dance on Sunday morning.

Warner joined the celebration at Eden Center in Falls Church, also watching the flag ceremony and touring the Vietnamese strip mall with a pocket-full of red envelopes containing the traditional "lucky money" gift.

He tried his Vietnamese on "happy New Year" greetings, according to his office, though a Warner spokeswoman acknowledged that "tried" might be the operative word.