International Club Celebrates the Chinese New Year
International Club Celebrates the Chinese New Year
Story and photos by Rebecca Richardson
The East Peoria campus International Club celebrated the Chinese New Year in the cafeteria. Club President Noah Bond gave an introductory speech on the celebration. “The Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival is celebrated in many regions throughout Asia.” he said. The celebration lasts 15 days an coincides with the new moon between January 21st and February 21st with the final day of the celebration culminating in the “Lantern Festival”. This year, the official celebration will take place on February 8th, the first day of the Chinese lunar calendar.
“This is the year of the Monkey.” he said. Those born in the year of the Monkey exhibit traits such as: curiosity, cleverness, and mischievousness” according to the website Chinahighlights.com They also have many interests and like a challenge.
Much like the American New Year’s, this is a national holiday that is recognized across China. Traditions surrounding the holiday include an annual family reunion and a thorough cleaning and cleansing of the house in order to symbolically remove negativity from the previous year and start the new one with a clean slate.
The International Club performed a traditional Lion Dance, offered the opportunity to learn how to use chopsticks and showed students how to create calligraphy.
