2018 Chinese New Year Party

March 11, 2018

Lexington Chinese New Year Party

Today we brought together just a part of our large community of Chinese Americans in Lexington for a potluck dinner and performance party at a local church. Due to limited space, 250 residents participated with children under the age of 17 close to 50%, adults 50% and about 20 elderlies. This was a special moment where we were able to enrich ourselves in our traditions, food, and our overall culture for the Lunar New Year a few weeks ago. It strongly exemplifies Chinese culture, which is priceless and makes our heritage unique. It connects each generation of Chinese Americans, despite that each of us strives for different goals and futures.

The event was well organized in three sections: activities, dinner and performances. Starting at 5 PM, we enjoyed ourselves at activities like riddles, Chinese yoyo, and paper crafts. The majority of these stations were filled with children or children accompanied with their parents. It is fascinating how in the United States, culture lives on and is still taken on by children of the next generation, even though they are born and raised in a completely different environment. When it is seen that children are experiencing these small traditions, it conveys a strong message about our lives in this country.

Of course, there was a large variety of food. It would be a misconception to think that Chinese foods are mostly noodles and dumplings. It is true that those dishes are important but Chinese food is much more rich than just those plates. At 6:30 PM, the actual eating began, and the lines were very long. There were dishes that originated from different parts of China which demonstrated different traditions in varying places of China. A popular dish is known as “Liangfen”, which consists of cut up starch jelly. There were a number of other dishes such as glutinous rice with different flavors, beef tendon in chilli sauce, lamb meal (Yangrou Fen), pork ribs, seafood, dried bamboo shoots, dry-fried green beans, and so on.

At around 8 PM, a CALex representative gave a speech about our community and our efforts that were put into contributions for the better of our Chinese American communities. Following on that note, a young girl performed a beautiful, traditional Chinese dance. With the beautiful colors of her props and her costume, and with her amazing skills and talent, the performance was exceptional. Next, there were three duet songs performed by a man singing and playing the guitar while a teenage boy played the cello alongside him. The lyrics were all in Chinese, and the tunes were very catchy. Seeing the phenomenal outcome of the songs, it is safe to assume that there was much work and effort put into them. After that, there were little competitions held for the adults and children.

At 9 PM, the people were thinning out and a few families stayed behind to help clean the church that we held our party in. It was amazing that there were so many volunteers that helped the party run smoothly. For example, some volunteers searched for, reserved and arranged the party facility, some to plan and organize the food, some to host the performance party, some to wash dishes and clean up, and many more. They varied from the children in elementary, middle and high school, the adults to the elderlies. On behalf of the organizer of tonight’s party, a big thank you goes out to all the volunteers.

Furthermore regarding the party, as one of our first large events held where so many Chinese Americans could come together, it was insightful and empowering to see how we all are united by our background. We are very fortunate and proud to be here and to have a Chinese American community as such where we can celebrate our culture together, and where we can encourage and support each other.