Union to hold Chinese New Year events

Friday, January 23, 2009

Red paper lanterns and dragon costumes will help ring in the Chinese New Year this Sunday as the Chinese Students and Scholars Friendship Association celebrates with food, folklore and dancing.

The year of the ox begins Monday and the CSSFA will hold cultural workshops and a gala Sunday evening in the Kansas Union to celebrate what Ailun Li, Beijing sophomore, said was one of the most important holidays in southeastern Asia.

“It’s pretty much like our Christmas,” Li said.

Chinese New Year's Eve Festival

Workshops begin at 2 p.m. in the Big 12 Room in the Kansas Union Gala and performances begin at 4 p.m. in Woodruff Auditorium in the Union Dinner will be served at 6 p.m. in the Union Ballroom and will cost $10

In Chinese astrology, people born in the year of the ox are dependable, strong and determined. They are tolerant individuals and hard workers, and they like to make decisions based on their own research. Oxen like having a few close friends as opposed to many casual acquaintances. They prefer routines to spontaneity, aren’t very sociable and will search long and hard for the perfect partner. Good career choices include interior designer, painter, carpenter, quarry worker, archeologist, horticulturist, mechanic, engineer, draftsman, banker, broker, real estate agent and army officer.

— Source: www.chinesezodiac.com

Nancy Xiao Liang, Luoyang, China, sophomore and vice president of CSSFA, said she expected about 300 guests to come feast on traditional Chinese dishes such as fish, braised pork and Chinese Tangyun dumplings.

The CSSFA is a student organization created to bring the Chinese students on campus together with the community and promote Chinese culture, according to the group’s president, Luyan Wang, Shandong Province junior.

Wang said the celebration would help ease the homesickness of exchange students and help those not familiar with Chinese customs learn about the culture.

Traditionally, Chinese families come together on New Year’s Eve to reflect on the past year and wait for the new one to arrive. Because the Chinese calendar is a lunisolar calendar, the new year begins on the first day of the first lunar month.

Wang said that on New Year’s Day, older generations would give money wrapped in bright red paper to younger relatives, symbolizing the child’s growth and bringing good fortune for the next year.

“Getting the money was the best part as a kid,” Li said, “because we were told that the money would keep evil spirits away.”

The amount of money given varies from one to 100 yen in different areas of China, but Wang said money wasn’t as important as other traditions, such as buying new clothes. She said her favorite part of the holiday was putting on her new skirt and shoes to symbolize the start of a new year.

— — Edited by Sam Speer

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