Chinese
new year begins
By Yi-Fang Vicky Lin
On-line Forty-Niner
 Chinese
students celebrated the traditional Lunar
New Year on campus Friday in the most elaborate,
colorful and important holiday in Chinese
culture.
John Tsuchida, chairman of Asian and Asian
American studies, opened the event by giving
his benediction to the CSULB Chinese students
overseas to begin the celebration of the
Lunar Chinese New Year.
Each dish at the dinner table had a special
meaning to ensure good luck in the coming
year, including New Year cake symbolizing
prosperity, dumplings for wealth and green
vegetables for longevity. Spring couplets
and paper scrolls were inscribed with blessings
and auspicious words such as “good fortune”
and “wealth” to welcome the new coming year.
“I am very happy that we have this kind
of gathering to celebrate the Chinese New
Year together. It’s an interesting set up,”
said Chi Zhang, a junior of computer science
from China. “As an Chinese, it has been
a tradition for thousands of years. We have
the celebration to remind us that no matter
where we are, we are Chinese.”
According to the Pei Ying Huang, president
of the Chinese Society, the traditional
meaning of the New Year’s Eve dinner is
family gathering. The main purpose of the
festival is to provide CSULB Chinese students
from overseas a family-oriented atmosphere.
“The Chinese Society has the obligation
and responsibility to serves its function
as the big family for Chinese students who
are here alone,” Huang said. “[It] not only
provides a family-like feeling for students,
we hope to see these Chinese students to
remember and maintain this tradition no
matter where they are.”
Freda Thompson, department secretary of
Asian and Asian American studies, was one
of the few non-Chinese people who joined
the event.
“I have been to China, Hong Kong, Taiwan
and Japan. So I really enjoyed traveling
and eating these foods and being with the
people. It’s a great way to know the culture,”
Thompson said.
The festival reached the highest peak of
cheering when several students played a
stage show, telling the audience the origin
of firecrackers, which traditionally played
a part of the New Year’s celebration.
The Chinese New Year starts on the first
day of the first moon based on the lunar
calendar. The corresponding date in the
solar calendar varies from as early as Jan.
21 to as late as Feb. 19. The Chinese New
Year, just like the Western New Year, signifies
turning over a new leaf.
“It’s a fully new start! The New Year means
usher in the new and send off the old. It’s
new hope, new expectation of the future,”
Huang said.
Socially, it is a time for family reunions,
visiting friends and relatives. This holiday,
more than any other Chinese holidays, stressed
the importance of family ties.
The New Year ended on the 15th of the first
moon with the Lantern Festival. On the evening
of that day, people carried lanterns into
the streets to take part in a dragon parade.
Young men would draw the audience’s attentions
with a dragon dance. The dragon is made
of bamboo, silk and paper, so it can be
stretched for more than 100 feet. The bobbing
and weaving of the dragon symbolized the
finale of the New Year festival.
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