{"id":77537,"date":"2024-02-12T15:46:03","date_gmt":"2024-02-12T21:46:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=77537"},"modified":"2024-02-12T15:46:05","modified_gmt":"2024-02-12T21:46:05","slug":"fhsu-celebrates-chinese-new-year","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/?p=77537","title":{"rendered":"FHSU celebrates Chinese New Year"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

STORY by LYNN YANG PHOTOS by<\/strong> RAEGAN NEUFELD<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Tiger Media Network<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

It’s time for the Spring Festival – the most distinctive traditional festival in China. It was also designated a United Nations holiday on December 22, 2023. This day is a happy day for families to reunite, bid farewell to the old and welcome the new. On this day, people hold various activities to pray for a bumper harvest, peace and health, and everything goes smoothly in the new year. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Spring Festival of 2024 is the year of Loong. Why is it Loong, not Dragon? This is because the Chinese Loong has a different image from the Western dragon. The Chinese Loong is “horse head + eagle claws + fish scales + antlers + snake body + no wings,” which represents good luck.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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On Friday, Fort Hays State University’s International Office and FHSU Student Engagement hosted a Chinese New Year celebration in the Union Ballroom. Fort Hays State University has been preparing Spring Festival activities over the years. This activity is very culturally inclusive and brings a certain amount of warmth to Chinese and other Asian students studying in the United States. It can alleviate a certain amount of homesickness and provide a platform for learning and exchange for people from other countries who want to learn and understand Chinese culture.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“I think it’s nice that this is the first year to celebrate New Year abroad with so many people, and I always celebrate New Year with my family and friends in China,\u201d said Chinese student, Canon. \u201cIt was my first time to spend the Spring Festival with more than 100 people I had never met before.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Event organizers began preparing on Wednesday evening. The volunteers who registered for the activity and the staff of the two departments collaborated to arrange the venue and props, from the venue layout of the two halls of the venue, to the use of red decorations such as “Couplet” and “\u798f\u201cto decorate the walls, as well as testing the microphone to ensure that the equipment is normal, as well as the confirmation of the characters in the activity. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This year’s activities are much more exciting than last year,\u201d Global Ambassador Lisa Zhao said. \u201cLast year, we made dumplings together; although there are no dumplings this year, there are many activities such as writing brush characters and doing handwork. The only pity is that I didn’t win a prize.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

There was also a lottery link throughout the event, and everyone who was drawn received a gift. This gift may be a calendar, chopsticks, a Loong doll, a greeting card with blessings written in different languages, or a Loong bookmark.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

At the beginning of the event, Simin Fu, an exchange teacher from Zhengzhou Sias University came on stage to introduce Chinese culture to everyone. She said that the origin of the Spring Festival evolved from ancient sacrifices. In the era of heavy agriculture in China, people prayed for a good harvest in the coming year by offering sacrifices to the gods of heaven and earth and to their ancestors.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Fu said there are some minor differences between the customs of the Spring Festival in the south and the north of China. She is a Southerner where they send the kitchen God, spring clean, and make dumplings and spring couplets.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

A Chinese volunteer who did not want to be named said she was very happy to participate in the preparation of this activity because she used to make dumplings in China. However, this time, she is no longer just a participant in preparing for the Spring Festival.; she is one of the organizers. She was very excited because she wrote the blessing card for the lottery, and she was looking forward to a smile on the face of the winner.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The event also had a number of Chinese New Year activities participants could experience such as Red Envelope\/Lucky Money, the Loong Dance, writing Spring Festival Couplets, making a handmade Loong and fortune cookie. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The origin of red envelopes dates back to ancient China, where legend has it that a beast, called Nian, would disturb children at night until villagers discovered that the loud sound of drums, firecrackers and the color red could scare the “Nian” away. Nowadays, people begin to give red envelopes containing lucky money to children in order to get blessings and protection in the New Year. At the event held by Fort Hays State University, each participant received a red envelope when they checked in. Inside was a gold coin, chocolate and a piece of paper printed with a QR code on how to make dumplings.  <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI came to this event with my parents, and we all felt very happy and meaningful,\u201d an event attendee said. \u201cIf there is time next year, we will come back to participate in this event.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Loong dance is a traditional performance during Chinese New Year celebrations, symbolizing joy, peace and prosperity. In this activity, students held long bamboo poles on the body of the Loong to match the rhythm of the music, imitating the appearance of the Loong dancing. The tacit understanding between the performers shows the Loong dance to everyone, creating a cheerful and festive atmosphere.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Spring couplets are traditional decorations during the Chinese New Year, usually decorated with doors, windows and interiors, symbolizing New Year wishes. Xinrui Wang, from the international office, showed everyone how to write a “\u798f” on red paper. She taught everyone to dip a brush into the ink and patiently write each stroke on red paper. The people who participated in the activity also learned from the sample and drew their own blessings. Some people who know how to write but also added their own creative touches.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I wish you all here in the Year of the Loong. May peace and love fill your heart, beauty fill your world, and contentment and joy fill your days! And contentment and joy fill your days. – Lynn<\/p><\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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Stir-fried beef, braised chicken, dumplings, potatoes and rice were served at the event. \n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Global Ambassador Lisa Zhao provided recipes for all the food at the event.\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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2024 is the year of the dragon<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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\u201cI feel like this is a great way to celebrate different holidays, especially with people who don\u2019t have the opportunity to go home,\u201d said Diane Hernandez-Ramirez, an organizer of the event. \u201cWe want to make sure that everyone feels comfortable and at home at Fort Hays.\u201d\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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\u201cPeople want to talk and engage,\u201d Hernandez-Ramirez said. \u201cSome people make friends here and there are new connections made. That\u2019s something priceless that smaller communities can really do, but especially at events like this.\u201d<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Global Affairs Operations Director Hayley Williams has attendees born in the years of the dragon stand up. These included 2012, 2000, 1988, 1976, 1964 and 1952.\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Williams acted as the emcee of the event, introducing activities and raffling off prizes.\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Simin Fu, a traveling scholar here with Global Affairs, gives a presentation about the Lunar New Year. \u201cIt\u2019s not just a holiday for us, it is a celebration deeply rooted in our culture and way of life,\u201d she said. \u201cYet, the essence of the spring festival extends beyond these traditions. It is a time for family reunions and expressions of love.\u201d\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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hopsticks, lunar calendars and stuffed dragon toys were given away as raffle prizes.\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Global Ambassador Crystal Wang leads the calligraphy activity.\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Attendees try their hand at a Chinese character.\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Attendees try their hand at a Chinese character.\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Attendees color the paper dragon heads for their puppets. \n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Attendees color the paper dragon heads for their puppets. \n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Amy Liu with Student Engagement shows attendees how to fold the body of their paper dragon puppet.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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\u201cWe encourage everyone to come\u201d Hernandez-Ramirez said. \u201cWe love our community here at Fort Hays, but also our Hays community. We really encourage people to participate and help out in any way possible.\u201d\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Liu shows what the finished paper dragon puppet should look like.\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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A young attendee shows off his paper dragon puppet.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Director of Student Engagement Jaden Rahe leads the fortune cookie craft.\n<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Attendees think of a message to write on their fortune cookie.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/figure>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

STORY by LYNN YANG PHOTOS by RAEGAN NEUFELD Tiger Media Network It’s time for the Spring Festival – the most distinctive traditional festival in China.… <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":142,"featured_media":77520,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"jetpack_post_was_ever_published":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_access":"","_jetpack_dont_email_post_to_subs":false,"_jetpack_newsletter_tier_id":0,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paywalled_content":false,"_jetpack_memberships_contains_paid_content":false,"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[3397,3398,11],"tags":[4735,15582,14226,12530],"class_list":["post-77537","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-area-news","category-campus-news","category-news","tag-chinese-new-year","tag-lynn-yang","tag-raegan-neufeld","tag-spring-festival"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"jetpack_featured_media_url":"https:\/\/i0.wp.com\/tigermedianet.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2024\/02\/02_09_24_Lunar_NY_003-scaled-e1707774322175.jpg?fit=1971%2C1331&ssl=1","jetpack_sharing_enabled":true,"jetpack-related-posts":[],"jetpack_likes_enabled":true,"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77537","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/142"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=77537"}],"version-history":[{"count":2,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77537\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":77541,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/77537\/revisions\/77541"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/77520"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=77537"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=77537"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/tigermedianet.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=77537"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}