Victoria Starbuck
       Staff Writer

How did Chinese New Year celebrants ring in the year of the monkey?

On Friday, Feb. 12, the department of Languages, Literatures and Cultures hosted a Chinese New Year Celebration that introduced attendees to a typical Chinese New Year celebration. Hosted in MHRA 3501, the Chinese New Year Celebration was overflowing with people. Guests were crowded around food tables, huddled on the floor and a line twined its way through the building.

The room was lined with red lanterns, red couplets and red paper cuts. Directly across from the entrance, stood a cardboard Chinese pagoda. Several students wore Qipaos, which are form-fitting Chinese dresses that are traditionally worn during festivals.

Visitors were invited to eat from a vast array of food that is typically prepared during the Chinese New Year. One table provided a small Chinese tea demonstration.

Around the room, guests were invited to play games, such as diabolo, which is a toy moved by a sting held in both hands of the player, that runs under the connecting cups of a juggling prop. The diabolo evolved from the Chinese yo-yo.

The main attraction at the Chinese New Year Celebration was the entertainment.

Lasting from 2-4:00 p.m., students and faculty members shared their experiences with the Chinese culture, language, and land. The entertainment for the afternoon began with a mixed Chinese pop dance, which incorporated various moves from Chinese pop music videos.

This dance was performed by Chinese language students and ended with one student dropping into a split.

This was followed by a presentation about studying abroad in China. The typical weekday for a student studying abroad in China, the presentation explained, would likely include classes in calligraphy and paper cut, which is a form of art where paper is cut into ornate designs.

While studying abroad in China, students have the opportunity to visit various locations throughout the country, such as the Great Wall of China, rice paddy fields and traditional fishing towns.

As more people flowed into the already packed room, Chinese language students prepared to sing songs for the New Year celebration. These songs were not traditional to the New Year festival, but provided guests at the Chinese New Year Celebration an opportunity to hear the sounds of Chinese tradition.

On traditional foods eaten on Chinese New Year, Chinese students explained where they are consumed in China. They also noted that, as a large country with a varied terrain and numerous subcultures, Chinese New Year celebrations vary throughout the land.

Lasting sixteen days, the Chinese New Year, which is also referred to as Spring Festival, is a family oriented holiday. The celebration begins with a cleaning of the house to prepare for the New Year and put away old things. The New Year preparations are also characterized by the Chinese buying new items, especially clothing.

Most Chinese families decorate their households on New Year’s Eve by hanging red lanterns, red couplets, the door god images and New Year paintings.

Red is typically viewed as a color of good fortune in Chinese culture, so the color is in abundance during festival times. Families also attend reunions on the Chinese New Year’s Eve, and give red envelopes filled with money to the young and unemployed, as well as stay awake to greet the New Year.

Throughout the remainder of the Spring Festival, Chinese people typically set off fireworks and firecrackers, offer sacrifices to ancestors, visit relatives, light lanterns and eat dumplings.

At the Chinese New Year Celebration on Friday, attendees were presented with a demonstration about how to create dumplings.

After the presentation ended, visitors were invited to create their own dumplings. All at once, the majority of the crowd that had been packed into MHRA 3501 streamed out of the room in pursuit of dumplings.

As visitors to the Chinese New Year Celebration crowded the hallway to create their own dumplings, the remaining guests in MHRA 3501 played a language game. A tin was passed around the room as a Chinese song played on the loudspeakers.

Whoever held the tin in their hands when the music stopped opened the tin and pulled out a card with a Chinese phrase relating to the Spring Festival on it. The holder of the tin would then read their phrase out loud, and those who read from the tin received pencil prizes.

Towards the end of the Chinese New Year Celebration, one Chinese exchange student led the room in singing a Chinese New Year song. The spirit of the room during this song, as well as during the entire celebration, mimicked the celebratory community of Chinese people during the Spring Festival.