Mizuki Yoshimura, Senior and Secretary of National Chinese Honors Society

What will NCHS be hosting at the library on 2/14, and what station are you looking forward to?

NCHS will be hosting a Lunar New Year event at the public library this Wednesday. We will be giving out limited amount of 红包 (red envelopes) and provide some foods. There will be 饺子 (dumplings), jelly, and more. We also have calligraphy, face painting, and paper cutting stations as well. I am looking forward to spending some time with my friends and family to celebrate this event!

What is the importance of celebrating LNY to students here at CHS and having a public event anyone can attend?

The importance of celebrating LNY to students of CHS is that we get to experience and learn other cultures, while being able to interact with your friends. 

What is your favorite food that will be served at the event, and what does it represent in your culture?

My favorite food would be 饺子(jiaozi), which are dumplings. The pronunciation of jiaozi means “transition from old to new,” and resembles the gold ingots used in ancient China, so it symbolizes wealth and prosperity in the upcoming year.

Which tradition that you or your household practices is your favorite?

I enjoy doing calligraphy in class and writing the characters that symbolize positive things. I love doing calligraphy, so I think that being able to decorate my room with my own writings is amazing. I also just love doing LNY activities in Chinese class every year!

Felicia Chen, Junior and member of NCHS

What will NCHS be hosting at the library on 2/14, and what station are you looking forward to?

We will be hosting a LNY celebration in the CCPL by giving out dumplings and red envelopes with candy, Chinese calligraphy, paper cutting, face paint, and so much more! I’m mostly looking forward to eating the dumplings.

What is the importance of celebrating LNY to students here at CHS and having a public event anyone can attend?

Celebrating LNY at CHS and the library gives students an opportunity to embrace their culture and learn about other cultures.

What is your favorite food that will be served at the event, and what does it represent in your culture?

Like I said before, I really like dumplings and they represent fortune and prosperity in the coming year.

Which tradition that you or your household practices is your favorite?

My favorite LNY tradition is handing out red envelopes and cleaning the house.

Senior Bingrui Wang

What is the importance of celebrating LNY to you?

The importance of celebrating Lunar New Year to me is that it’s really a reminder of my cultural heritage, and it really brings me closer to my ancestral roots.

What is your favorite food eaten during the LNY dinner and what does it represent?

My favorite food is dumplings and it represents wealth since it’s the old style of minting gold, basically the food is that shape if you know what I mean.

Which tradition that you or your household practices is your favorite?

My favorite tradition is red envelopes, but I’ve kind of grown out of it since I’ve got my own job and now I make my own money, but I guess you still look towards it. Also new years dinner since it’s just time together as a family, pretty good traditions.

Sophomore Wei Lei

What is the importance of celebrating LNY to you?

Celebrating LNY can let American students learn more about Asian culture and it can bring students together to learn more about our backgrounds.

What is your favorite food eaten during the LNY dinner and what does it represent? I really love hot pot. Not every family eats hot pot for LNY, but for my family, it is important. I think the hot pot represents bringing family together and unity, since we all surround the hot pot and eat.

Which tradition that you or your household practices is your favorite?

The best LNY activity has got to be red envelopes, I mean who doesn’t want free money? But another activity I like is 守歲 (Shǒusuì), for this you have to stay up as late as possible and the longer you stay up, the longer your family would live and be healthy.

Gallery • 20 Photos

Grace Guo

Student dance at the NCHS Lunar New Year celebration. This event took place on Feb. 14 at the CCPL.