Chinese Students Celebrate New Year

Leverett House dining hall was festooned in red and its walls covered with Chinese calligraphy for the annual Chinese New Year Banquet Celebration Saturday night.

The banquet was sponsored by the Harvard-Radcliffe Chinese Student's Association (HRCSA) and celebrated the arrival of the Year of the Tiger, which officially began on Jan. 28.

More than 300 students attended the event, which included a 12-course buffet and six performances by students from Harvard, MIT and Brown.

"It seemed like the Chinese Students' Association put a lot of effort into it. It was a very colorful event," said Harini K. Reddy '01, who attended the dinner.

The banquet was attended mostly by students of Chinese descent but included many of their friends and roommates as well.

"I think it was a really good mix across the ethnicities," said Jessica A. Eng '01, public relations chair for HRCSA.

The buffet was catered by the Peach Farm Restaurant in Chinatown, and courses represented a range of Asian dishes, from King Tou's Spare Ribs to Singapore Style Rice Noodles.

"We sold a lot more tickets than we expected," said Andrew G.W. Chung '98, co-president of HRCSA.

The dinner sold out by Saturday afternoon.

Chung and Co-president Harrison W. Lin '98 hosted the evening, which began with the MIT Lion Dance Troupe.

"They totally brought the house down," Eng said.

Angela Ng '99 followed, with a series of Chinese folk songs. She was accompanied by Wilson B. Chwang '01 on the electric keyboard.

Felicia Kuo, a student from Brown University and the 1997 Miss Teen USA runner-up, performed next. Kuo danced a traditional feather, fan and ribbon dance. She later played a piece on a dulcimer, a harp-like instrument.

The Harvard Asian American Dance Troupe performed martial arts and traditional Chinese dances.

The martial arts dance "is one that always carries over well," said Jeannette Y. Louh '99. "There's a lot of weaponry."

"The atmosphere was very festive, as it should be for Chinese New Year," she said.

Chung and Lin led their own audience participation game called "Super Sunday," a physical version of the game "telephone" where participants passed on a charade.

"The third clue was 'primal scream,'" Eng said. "There were a lot of interesting responses to that one."

The evening also served as a farewell tooutgoing officers of HRCSA and as a welcome to thenew officers.

The winner of the Officer of the Year Award wasTony Yung '00, incoming vice president of HRCSA.This is the first year the award has been given,and it is part of an over-reaching plan for changein HRCSA headed by Chung and Lin.

Chung and Lin are beginning an unprecedentedsecond year as co-presidents of HRCSA. They saythey have taken HRCSA in a new direction since thebeginning of their term last year.

"We're moving from just a social, culturalorganization to include a political side so thatwe can truly educate the entire Harvard communityabout the issues that affect Chinese-Americans,"Chung said.

HRCSA has become more involved in supportingstudents as they deal with issues includingminority myths, the portrayal of Asians in themedia and Asians in business, according to Lin.

"The theme of the whole evening was...how CSAhas changed and how it will continue to change,"Chung said

The evening also served as a farewell tooutgoing officers of HRCSA and as a welcome to thenew officers.

The winner of the Officer of the Year Award wasTony Yung '00, incoming vice president of HRCSA.This is the first year the award has been given,and it is part of an over-reaching plan for changein HRCSA headed by Chung and Lin.

Chung and Lin are beginning an unprecedentedsecond year as co-presidents of HRCSA. They saythey have taken HRCSA in a new direction since thebeginning of their term last year.

"We're moving from just a social, culturalorganization to include a political side so thatwe can truly educate the entire Harvard communityabout the issues that affect Chinese-Americans,"Chung said.

HRCSA has become more involved in supportingstudents as they deal with issues includingminority myths, the portrayal of Asians in themedia and Asians in business, according to Lin.

"The theme of the whole evening was...how CSAhas changed and how it will continue to change,"Chung said