Year of the rooster

For Lan-sze Pang, her most memorable moments in celebrating the Chinese New Year have been right here in Carbondale.

"It means so much because we are far away from home," said Pang, a graduate student in counseling psychology. "It's very special that we can get together and celebrate the biggest festival in the Chinese community."

The Chinese Students and Scholars Association ushered in 2005 Saturday at the Carbondale Civic Center with about 450 people. Entertained by a show full of dance, song and martial arts performances, many reflected on the traditions and memories of years past while looking forward to the promise of what's to come.

Weiyi Tang said he plans to have a big party with friends. He said with each year, he has a renewed sense of anticipation for what the new year may bring him and his family.

"Every time, when the year comes by, every New Year's coming you feel something exciting," he said. "Even so many have come, you feel something different, some new hope. That's how it's always been."

Chicken Dance

Two emerged from behind the curtain, one in the front, and one in the back. Hovered over them lay a multicolored "lion" costume. The crowd cheered while the incognito figures synchronized their movements with the beat.

To them, the performance meant happiness and joy.

The Lion Dance, which originated nearly 1,000 years ago, opened a new year and an evening of celebration and is often used in Chinese New Year celebrations. The Chinese 2005, which officially began Wednesday, is known as the year of the rooster, a symbol of a 12-animal recycling system the Chinese use to designate each year.

The official beginning of the Chinese New Year varies because the calendar is based on lunar and solar activities. Chinese New Year begins the day of a new moon and ends on the full moon.

The last day of the celebration is known as the Lantern Festival, a night with lantern displays and children carrying lanterns in a parade.

The Chinese Students and Scholar Association, a Registered Student Organization that has about 200 student and faculty members, has presented an annual celebration to welcome the new year for the last 16 years. YiHua Philip Sheng, faculty adviser of the association, said he believes the organization has to uphold its obligation to the Chinese community as well as bring more awareness of the country to others who have limited knowledge about China.

"They may know China by name, but they don't know the real thing," said Sheng, who works in the Department of Computer Science. "We wanted to organize such an event to show the culture part of China."

Lianbian Cui, president of the Chinese Student and Scholars Association, remembers the holiday as a joyous occasion, a sentiment, he said, that is shared by most of his culture.

"Chinese New Year is the most important festival," Cui said. "It's a new start for a new year. We will refresh our failings and then reunite with family members. We will meet with friends and also have some delicious food to celebrate it. For almost every Chinese person, this is the most important time for them."

Time of your life

Marianne Lambert of Carbondale was a regular performer Saturday night. Along with vocal performances with her Calvary Campus Church's Chinese Bible Study group, she called 10 volunteers from the audience to the stage for a rendition of "Matle Leaf Rat," a lively "Charleston-esque" dance routine.

Lambert acquired her Chinese name, Mu Xiao Yang, while she was a missionary in Taiwan. The name, which means "Little Lamb on the Tree," is meant to reflect her Christian beliefs.

While a missionary during 1999 and 2000, Lambert said she was introduced to much of the Chinese culture.

"Just about anything you can imagine, we did. We celebrated Chinese New Year just like anybody else," said Lambert, who has since returned to Taiwan every summer. "We had firecrackers at midnight, and we would go visit peoples' homes."

Lambert also said her view on the Chinese New Year is similar to holiday celebrations in this country.

"It's kind of like a Chinese Christmas," she said. "People are giving gifts, just different kinds of things. It's meant to be fun. It's meant to be enjoyable."

Michelle Ngan, a graduate student in food and nutrition, was one of the hostesses for the evening. She said while she often associates the Chinese New Year with "lots of good food and money in red envelopes," her fondest memories were when she was a child growing up in Hong Kong.

"For us, it was like a big event," she said. "The whole family gets together, and I really miss that because I don't get that here in the United States."

Sheng said he believes the celebration is a time for being with loved ones.

"Just like Americans who always celebrate Christmas day, we always celebrate our Chinese New Year," he said. "It is just a time to remind myself of my family and my friends in China and to remind me that I should keep the traditions of Chinese values."

Merging two worlds

While Li Hu Cui was getting ready for the Chinese Clothes Fashion Show, a woman stopped her to compliment her outfit, which modeled from a dynasty 1,500 years ago, and wanted to know more about what she was wearing.

Cui said this incident reinforced her belief that the American public has a growing interest in Chinese culture. China's fashion industry has grown so immensely, she added, while combing the traditional elements with modern trends.

"[This event] is a very good opportunity for intercultural communication for the American people," Cui said. "People from other countries can get to know some Chinese traditions and performance show tradition and clothes.

"China has a 5,000-year-old history, and the clothes can be a medium for cultural translation from one generation to another generation."

Cui's husband Lianbian Cui stressed that China's culture has developed rapidly throughout history, a growth that many people may be unaware of.

"It's not like what some Americans imagine," he said.

John Koropchak, vice chancellor for Research and also the graduate dean, said events such as the Chinese New Year celebration promotes cultural awareness in the campus community.

"It enriches us, and it enriches the environment and the education of all of our students," he said.

Though her favorites of the night's entertainment were the minority dancing and the fashion show, Pang said she understands the dedication and hard work it takes to perform on stage.

"We work together, practice together and really put a lot of time into it," she said. "All the time that we have practiced, all the time we discussed what we were going to do, it really gives me a good memory and also with the friends who came to support us."

Knowing the importance of expanding one's horizons, Pang said she is very grateful for the support of other cultures toward her own.

"I knew that this year had more from the community [attending]," she said. "We really appreciate the people who were interested in our culture and who came to this party. It is so nice to know that we can share the culture with people from different places."

For more information on the Chinese Students and Scholars Association, log on to www.siu.edu/`prchina/