Follow-Up StoryWinter 2015Journalism 1

MECHANICSBURG, Pa.—Cumberland Valley High School hosted its eighth annual Chinese New Year celebration Feb. 11 in its performing arts center.

The admission-free celebration, which ran from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m., included singing, dancing, speeches, skits and martial arts. It was organized by Cumberland Valley Chinese language teacher Lan Ziegler and her students in the Chinese Club and language program.

Ziegler, who was born and raised in China, told The Sentinel, newspaper of Carlisle, that Chinese New Year is a huge event in her home country. She wanted to bring Chinese culture to the area, and invited groups from the community to participate in the student-led performances.

The event was a fun distraction from the winter blahs, so rampant in an area that has seen record low temperatures for weeks.

“I try to get this feeling passed down to my students so they can get the idea of how to celebrate,” Ziegler told The Sentinel. “It’s a happy thing, after the down winter you have this event to brighten everybody.”

Before the performances began, guests were treated to tables loaded with traditional Chinese dishes, cakes, pastries and fortune cookies. Some tables contained origami models and Chinese games. High school senior Varsha Srinivas especially enjoyed the Bollywood dance that originated in her native India, but is now considered cross-cultural.

“The dance was incredible,” Srinivas said, “but the most hilarious was an Asian-parents-versus-Caucasian-parents skit. It showed the different ways parents treat their own kids based on what nationality they are.”

Eric Beam, another high school senior, said this was his first time to attend the event. He most enjoyed the martial arts performances and the food. Beam said the sugar-coated donuts and shrimp lo mein were his favorites.

Chinese New Year 2015 begins the Year of the Goat. People’s birth years are represented by a particular animal and the same animal is repeated every 12 years. The animals associated with the Chinese Zodiac are the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, goat, monkey, rooster, dog and pig.

The Chinese New Year is often referred to as the Lunar New Year, because the celebration is in accordance to the lunisolar calendar. A lunisolar calendar is used in many cultures and indicates both the moon phase and the time of the solar year. The arrival of the New Year usually falls between the end of January and the middle of February. The exact date depends on the arrival of the full moon.