On Tuesday, February 17, Kean University stepped into the Year of the Horse with the annual Lunar New Year celebration. From 3:30 to 4:30 pm, the Miron Student Center atrium was awash in golden and red as students immersed themselves in Chinese culture and traditions.
After checking in (and getting a fortune cookie), attendees could visit several stations for activities to commemorate the event. At one table, students could get their Chinese name written down with ink and a brush. Others featured spin-the-wheel for prizes, including a stuffed horse toy in honor of the Year of the Horse, and scratch-off-a-fortune for on-the-spot fortune telling.
Of course, no event is complete without refreshments, and the celebration did not disappoint. Students queued for bubble tea and tables laden with lo mien noodles, kabobs, and veggie rolls. They could also get their picture taken at a photo booth to preserve the memory of the event forever.
Exchange students from China who attended the event took in the sights featuring Chinese symbols, activities, and foods. Several of them likened the experience to their own holiday celebrations growing up.
Haoxin Zhu, a junior majoring in Cellular and Molecular Biology from Shandong Province, described Chinese New Year as the most popular festival in the country.
“Normally, no matter how far you live outside your hometown, you go back to your hometown that day to spend time with your family and your relatives. So, we normally would have a big meal together [and] cook together.”
Celebrations might look different depending on the region one is from in China. Zhu, who grew up in the northern region, described how families would celebrate. “Families will enjoy the time together making dumplings and watching TV shows and just talk about their own experience in the last year.”
The south might have different activities, as the weather is typically warmer. “They have more water activities such as boat racing or sometimes other fireworks above the water or something like that,” Zhu explained.
Many traditions are collectively known by those who observe the holiday, no matter the region. Yueyang Luo, a junior majoring in Computer Science, commented on these traditions from celebrating in Hangzhou, Zhejiang Province.
“In the night, the whole family will gather together to have a festival feast,” he said. “And after that, we will enjoy the spring festival show on our TV, and it will last until 12 midnight.”
When asked about his favorite memories of celebrating, Zhu answered with no hesitation: fireworks, the essential part of every new year celebration.
“[During] Chinese New Year’s Eve we will have very huge and creative fireworks,” he recalled. “In 2016, me [and] my brother [competed] with our neighbors to see which fireworks [were] the most beautiful. I think that’s a very good memory.”
Jiahao Zheng, from Wenzhou, where Kean’s China campus is, remembered eating dinner with his entire family for the New Year—about 100 people in total. A junior majoring in Finance, Zheng holds this memory in high regard. “This is the most important culture in China,” he emphasized.
As this is Zheng’s first time apart from his family, Zheng has mixed feelings celebrating at Kean Union. “At first I felt lonely... but after a phone call with my mom, I feel that it’s normal for a student to be separated to finish their academic performance,” he reflected. “Maybe I can decide things on my own [now], maybe there’s something [I can do] that will not be limited by my family.”
Thousands of miles away, Zhu said that he still feels the essence of home at Kean University.
“I know that [it’s] a totally different culture, but you can taste traditional Chinese food, and you can learn a few Chinese words... I’m very happy, and also, I feel quite comforted that Kean campus would like to celebrate a different culture and give us [an] opportunity to share our culture [with] local students.”
Happy Year of the Horse!
