Parties and parade herald the Year of the Dog
By Maggie Beidelman
As a tall blonde of European descent, I hardly expected to fit in at the festivities of the Asian Lunar New Year hosted by student organizations in Sobrato Commons last Thursday.
The Asian-Pacific Islander Student Union, the Chinese Student Association and the Vietnamese Student Association all worked to put on the event.
After gorging myself in mouthfuls of Chinese candy, defeating a few people at the chopstick challenge and learning how to play a type of Asian poker game called Mahjong from some patient instructors, I found myself accepted and integrated into the celebration. Although the holiday may be familiar to many Americans, its cultural significance seems grossly under-appreciated.
The Chinese New Year, also known as the Lunar New Year, is a 15-day celebration that began on Jan. 29. According to the Lunar calendar, we have reached the year 4704, which is the Year of the Dog. The Lunar New Year is celebrated throughout Asia as the most important holiday of the year.
During this time, families gather to eat good food, pay their respects to ancestors and to practice old, time-honored traditions in an atmosphere saturated with music, art and the lucky color red.
"Our celebration," said Victor Chen, president of APSU, "is a night of festivities and honoring tradition."
A well-organized event, the night included an instructive Chinese music showcase led by Jack Ling, executive director of the Center for Multicultural Learning.
The nearly 20 students who attended the event enjoyed the traditional music of such instruments as the pipa, a tall Chinese lute, which was featured in last week's New Music Festival. Ling explained that with each traditional song, a different story is told by the way the instrument is played.
The night continued with workshops in calligraphy, dumpling-making and Chinese brush painting. These ancient arts and crafts bring families together every year as a declaration of their unity, connections with their past and hope for the New Year.
Beginning in the 1860s, Chinese immigrants sought to profess and share their culture through a traditionally American medium -- the parade itself is not native to China, but represents the blending of Eastern and Western cultures in San Francisco.
Celebrations will continue in San Francisco this weekend with two major annual events. On Saturday, Feb. 11, beginning at 5:30 p.m., the annual Chinese New Year Parade will make its way around the city, starting at Second and Market Street.
Today, the Chinese New Year Parade is considered to be one of the top ten in the world. It features myriad floats, intricate costumes, firecrackers, Miss Chinatown U.S.A., her court and the 201-inch Golden Dragon.
The Chinese Community Street Fair will also take place from Feb. 11-12 in San Francisco. It is an all-day event featuring its own parade. On Saturday, the parade will launch at Grant Avenue and departs from Pacific Avenue on Sunday.
To avoid non-existent parking turmoil, the best way to get there is by taking BART and getting off at the Montgomery or Powell Street stations. Whether you drive or take public transit, it's definitely worth the trip.
Contact Maggie Beidelman at (408) 551-1918 or mbeidelman@scu.edu