By Chubo (Tony) Peng

Lunar New Year is also known as Chinese New Year in the West. It is an annual celebration marking the start of the New Year according to the lunar calendar.  It falls in the months of January or February, and each Lunar New Year is represented by 1 of the 12 creatures of the Chinese Zodiac – 2017 is the year of the Rooster.  In the past, the Lunar New Year Celebration is always one of the best among all events held on campus at Penn State Harrisburg, and this year is no exception. Compared with past years, this year’s 5th annual Lunar New Year Celebration, which was held on Friday, Feb. 10, in the Student Center of Capital Union Building, was better than ever. Humorously coordinated by four hosts from Indonesia (Laela Sifa), China (Yixuan Sun), Vietnam (Sanh Phung), and the Nigerian American (Buka Chinatu) respectively, joy and laughter never ceased from the first minute of the event till the last.

  (Picture left: A lion dance performed by the Little Star Chinese Language School)

The celebration kicked off with an authentic East Asian dinner catered from Royal Buffet & Grill.  Afterwards, two colorful lions from the local Chinese community went up to the stage to dance, which amused the audience with their various leaps and jumps.  The dance was then followed by two informative cultural presentations on Lunar New Year Food (by Megan Cheng, a Global Ambassador of Penn State Harrisburg) and Folk Arts (by Professor Luo, a visiting scholar for the School of Humanities). The upcoming performances were filled with surprises and cheers: Penn State Harrisburg students sang songs in many different languages, the wonderful Martial Arts demo by Jose Johnson’s Chinese Martial Art & Wellness Center, different genres of Asian ethnic or folk dances performed by the students and community artists.  At the end of the performances, the two Cantonese songs performed by Penn State Harrisburg student Huikai Wang, and the awesome Korean song by Penn State Harrisburg Global Ambassador Chloe Cho, lifted the audiences’ spirit to another level. As the songs moved on, the crowd turned on the flashlight on their phones and waved them in the air—as if they were supporting their favorite singers on one of his/her tours.

(Picture left: Lunar New Year fashion contestants)

The highlight of the evening would be the annual traditional and ethnic fashion show.  Thirty-five fashion contestants from nearly 20 countries joined the fashion competition. After the careful comparison and selection of the judges, a Penn State Harrisburg girl’s trio from India, Jahanavi Gupta, Pravallika Sanke, and Manasi Sathe, were crowned the best dressed female award; the best dressed male was pocketed by Penn State Harrisburg’s seasoned Global Ambassador from China, Chubo “Tony” Peng.

(Picture left: Educational Counselor Xu of China Consulate General in New York & Chubo “Tony” Peng, the best dressed male winner)

Along with hundreds of Penn State Harrisburg students, this wonderful event was also joined by many school faculties/staff members, and numerous community artists.  The campus was especially honored to have the presence of Educational Counselor Xu and Vice Consul Li who drove from China Consulate General in New York to our campus to attend this annual event for the first time. All of them spoke highly of this event’s quality. One of the fashion judges, Larry Asu, an alumni of Penn State Harrisburg, couldn’t hold back his compliments, “On a scale of 10, I’ll rate it (Lunar New Year) a solid 10!” “The lion dance is the best of all time!” added another faculty member, Dr. Ryoo of School of Humanities, who served as another fashion judge, “I really learned a lot from the presentations. And I’m eager to learn more.” Vice Consul Li of China Consulate General in New York put it well: “This is the best Lunar New Year event I attended. The event makes students feel at home, and even though I am a guest, I feel like I am a family member here.” Anna Marshall, the International Student Adviser of Penn State Harrisburg, appreciated all the kind support of the community, both on-campus and off-campus, at her closing remarks.

The event ended with a red pack for each attendee to bring home as the Lunar New Year 2017 gift when they exited the Capital Union Building of Penn State Harrisburg.  A memorable night to remember.  May the Year of Rooster bring you joy, love, and peace.

(Picture right: First place female fashion winners — Jahanavi Gupta, Pravallika Sanke, and Manasi Sathe)