Chinese Table Welcomes the Lunar New Year

Angela Chen
February 8, 2024

Happy Year of the Dragon! This Lunar New Year, the Chinese Flagship office opened its doors to students for a celebration ringing in the Lunar New Year with traditional food, lively music, and several fun New Year-themed activities.

Chinese Table attendees gather around Chinese Flagship Graduate Assistant, Hsin-Tzu Jen, as he performs an inspiring display of calligraphy expertise

During the event, attendees were greeted with numerous dining options from a delectable menu, graciously catered by Bo’s Kitchen. Such foods included wontons, jian dui (sesame balls), and tang yuan (glutinous sweet rice balls). Those in attendance were also delighted to receive lovely, homemade nian gao (Chinese New Year’s Cake) from one of our Flagship students and attendees, Allison Zenoble.

Student Ambassadors Molly Wolyn and Kimberly Batson also prepared entertainment to accompany meals, such as New Year’s music and a lighthearted film. Attendees, including Chinese Flagship’s very own Graduate Assistant, Hsin-Tzu Jen, and Flagship student, Jeno Calara, also poured their efforts into the different celebratory activities laid out for everyone to enjoy. These hands-on activities included the ability to scribe one’s own festive paper wall decoration using the available calligraphy ink, or one could engage in paper cutting using beautiful designs made from characters that signify “spring,” “luck,” and “blessings.”

Flagship Student, Jeno Calara, carefully cuts out the character symbolizing “spring” from the decorative red paper

The atmosphere of the event was conducive to ensuring that everyone enjoyed a relaxed atmosphere in which they could chat amongst each other, and sample all the different New Year’s foods and activities. An event such as this goes to show the value of having a space for Chinese learners to be involved in cultural community activities as part of a holistic experience for the budding language learner.

Without a doubt, we look forward to our next Chinese Table later in the semester!