There will be a Chinese New Year Celebration on Feb. 16 at 6 p.m. in the Memorial Union Ballroom that will include Chinese food, activities and performances from students in the Chinese Language Program.
The Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, is on Feb. 5 and lasts until Feb. 19. Chinese New Year is a very large celebration in China.
“Chinese New Years is like the biggest holiday in China,” Verity Cheslo, a double major in Chinese and supply chain management said. “It’s comparable to Christmas over here.”
The event is especially important to a certain group of students here at URI. Of the people in attendance, Cheslo said, “There’s a high amount of students who are on exchange from China where this is kind of their opportunity to celebrate the holiday, even though they’re far away from home.”
Many people besides those involved in the Chinese flagship and language programs attend as well.
“Most of the people who attend are either local Rhode Island residents from the Chinese American community here, professors and staff from URI both Chinese and non-Chinese, and then there’s a lot of American students who are just interested in learning about China,” Chelso said.
Sarah Chambers is also a part of the Chinese language program. Chambers described the immensity of Chinese New Year in China.
“There’s a huge sort of human migration through the cities to the rural areas because everyone’s going back to their province, to their family,” Chambers said. “Everyone cooks their traditional dishes. It’s a time of just being with your family and making sure, traditionally, that you’re ready for the new year.”
Cheslo has actually experienced Chinese New Year in China. She stayed with a host family for a year.
“There’s different things you do on different days,” Chelso said of her experience. “So the first day you normally just come in and eat food and celebrate with the family. There’s a special New Year’s TV [program]… kind of like watching the ball drop here, but it’s more like performances and kind of like SNL style skits. You watch that until New Year’s and then you go out and you put off fireworks yourself. We had bought up a ton and we were out in the public park shooting them off.”
Although there will be no fireworks at the celebration, there will be jiaozi, a kind of Chinese dumpling, traditionally served during the Chinese New Year. Along with the food, one of the performances that will be provided comes from Cheslo and Chambers.
At the celebration, Cheslo and Chambers will be singing the song “Peng You Bie Ku,” meaning “Friend don’t cry,” by Lui Fong. The song is personal to them as they will be parting ways at the end of this semester.
“[The song] is about two friends that went through school together and then they have to go their separate ways and it’s kind of saying don’t cry, think of all the things that we did do together and you know, still looking forward a little bit to the future,” Chambers said. “But even though we don’t know when we’re going to meet again, you remember the friendship that we have.”
The Chinese New Year celebration starts at 6 p.m., but the performances will begin at 7 p.m. All are welcome to attend and the event is free.