Chinese New Year isn’t just celebrated in China. It’s found anywhere there are Chinese communities – even here in Raleigh.

The Chinese Undergraduate Student Association is hosting its annual Lunar New Year Jan. 20. That same night, the Asian Student Association is organizing an “Asia Night” celebration, which is not for Chinese New Year specifically – but it will be a night of performances to raise funds for school construction in Vietnam. Another event is the Triangle Area Chinese American Society’s annual celebration, which unites Chinese groups all around the Triangle area for a New Year’s Celebration Jan. 28 at the fairgrounds.

“We have a full day of performances; there are a lot of vendors with food and cultural exhibits, so there’s quite a lot,” Lisa Chang, the University’s Management, Innovation, and Entrepreneurship Program manager, said. “We have the dragon and lion dances, the ribbon dance, the fan dance – there’s also some martial arts demonstrations and Chinese opera, too.”

Chang, who is Chinese-American and grew up celebrating the holiday, said the celebration originated from a Chinese myth about a monster named Nian that terrorized villagers on a yearly basis – until they found that the monster was scared of loud noises and the color red.

“The word Nian means year, and ‘xin nian’ new year. ‘Nian’ used to be an actual monster of some kind, like a dragon,” Chang said. “So in this kind of festival, like in a dragon or lion dance, there’s a lot of drumming and gongs and loud noise. That’s to try to banish the bad spirits.”

Now the meaning of the holiday has changed slightly, Chang said, but the traditions still remain intact. For example, Chinese New Year is still celebrated according to the Lunar Calendar.

“It’s called the Spring Festival; it’s a period of renewal… Nowadays it’s used as an opportunity, just like Christmas and Thanksgiving, to get together with family and friends – usually there’s a big meal. There are still firecrackers – some of these old traditions hold over – like there is a lot of noise, and kids receive red envelopes with money in them,” Chang said.

Denise and Andy Lee, part of the Families with Children group from China, have two adopted children and are helping lead Chinese folk dance classes. The students in these classes will be the ones dancing at the festival.

“It’s a way to teach kids about their birth heritage, but more so it’s about having them exposed to older teens and mentors. It’s been really good – really fun,” Denise said about the dance classes.

As an American family with adopted children from China, they celebrate the holiday as well. “We make dumplings and we give red envelopes. Usually some other families that we know that have children adopted from China… get together and we have a big party,” Denise said.

Their daughters, Danica and Ying, are participating in the festival folk dances this year. Danica, who started dancing when she was four, is now 16 and is dancing in the ribbon and dragon dances.

“The story is that we are the cloud fairies and we are fighting the monkey king, and then in the second part we are fairies looking down on earth and watching people celebrate,” Danica said. “[While in the dragon dance] in Chinese culture the dragon represents longevity and prosperity and good luck.”

 ”Our mission for our organization is to promote Chinese education and culture,” Chang said. “[The Chinese New Year Festival] is just a really good opportunity to share the Chinese culture with the community at large.”

Alt:

Jan. 20

Asia Nite

Stewart Theater

Visit: http:// clubs.ncsu.edu / asa / to purchase tickets

Jan. 28

TACAS New Year Celebration

Exposition Center

State Fairgrounds

1025 Blue Ridge Rd, Raleigh