It is seemingly a new tradition that, instead of dining at home, many New Yorkers flock to Chinese restaurants for Christmas Eve dinner.

As a matter of fact, hundreds of Chinese restaurants in New York City were so crowded Monday evening that diners had to wait for over an hour to get a table at some of the best ones.

Jing Fong Restaurant in Manhattan Chinatown was fully booked weeks before the Christmas Eve, according to its manager Guiying Luo.

The restaurant is known for its large capacity for accommodating over 800 seats with 20,000 square feet.

It was the same case with another Chinatown favorite -- Peking Duck House, which can only entertain 150 guests and had to ask those diners who did not book tables to wait at its entrance.

"Peking duck is increasingly popular with non-Chinese ethnic groups, and our tables have been booked at least three weeks or over a month before," said Ken, the restaurant manager.

Google Trends has found that more people searched for "Chinese restaurant open" during the week of Christmas than any other weeks of the year.

"It seems like proof that Chinese food and culture is finally part of mainstream America: Chinese restaurants have managed to become as culturally American as milk and cookies for Santa," wrote Lillian Li, the author of the novel "Number One Chinese Restaurant," in an opinion piece carried by www.nytimes.com on Tuesday.

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