Campus Chinese New Year brings students together

Hailong Ren was emcee at the 2008 Chinese New Year celebration sponsored by the IU Chinese Student and Scholar Association. This year, however, he will spend the celebration behind the scenes as he works backstage to keep the show running smoothly.

Ren, who is the association’s activity director, said his goal for the biggest Asian event on campus is for everyone to have fun and feel at home.

“It’s like two hours back in China,” said Hao Liu, association vice president. Liu came to IU from Beijing three years ago and has been involved in the association ever since.

The association, which is the biggest organization for Chinese students on campus, will sponsor a Chinese New Year celebration at 5:30 p.m. Saturday at the IU Auditorium, Liu said.

The celebration includes food from Chow Bar followed by performances in honor of the New Year. The celebration is free and open to the public.

Liu said the event will provide food because it is a very important part of the celebration. Families in China might start preparing food two days before the New Year.

“Families get together,” Ren said. “They cook dinner or go out to eat, but the main thing is getting together.”

In addition to organizing the event, association members are in several of the performances. The association wrote a skit to perform for the holiday and will also stage a choral performance. Ren said most of the performers are Chinese or Chinese-American.

The performances are both traditional and modern, Liu said, so there is something for everyone who attends. Performances include singing, dancing and several comedy skits.

“There’s a need to celebrate,” Liu said. “It’s very important; all the sons and daughters working in other cities come home.”

He said the New Year was a time to reunite with old friends in your hometown.

Association President Yan Jin said the holiday is a traditional, family-oriented time for the Chinese, similar to Christmas for many Americans. Families sit down in front of the TV to watch a celebration show complete with fireworks on Chinese New Year’s Eve.

Liu said one legend associated with the Chinese New Year is about a vicious monster called Nian. To protect themselves from the monster, the Chinese gather in groups and set off fireworks to scare it.

The Chinese New Year is also called Spring Festival, welcoming spring and starting the lunar new year. The lunar new year begins on different days each year, and it began  this year on Jan. 26.

The celebration is the biggest event the association sponsors each year.

“It’s a platform for Chinese people to get together and to promote Chinese cultures on campus,” Jin said.