Chinese New Year Rung in with Charm

Despite being pelted in the neck by an orange spewed from the mouth of a lion dancer, Brian T. Ru ’11 had only good things to say about Saturday evening’s Chinese New Year’s Banquet in Leverett Dining Hall.

“The food was great, and all the performers did a really great job,” said Ru.

The banquet was organized by the Harvard-Radcliffe Chinese Student Association (CSA) and featured a 15-course meal catered by Peach Farm Restaurant and Taiwan Cafe and performances by the Asian-American Dance Troupe (AADT), the Harvard Tai Chi Tiger Crane Kung Fu Club, and other musical and dance groups.

“We wanted to make it bigger and better than in previous years,”said CSA Co-President Janet He ’10 before the event. “There will be more food than in previous years, and we want people to feel well-fed.”

Traditional red paper balloons and streamers floated across the ceiling, while each guest was given one red envelope with a chocolate Chinese coin inside. Performances included traditional dances with paper umbrellas, as well as musical ensembles with ancient instruments.

Audience members said they especially enjoyed the high-kicking, floor-pounding wu-shu demonstration, as well as the broadsword performance put on by Lisa M. Yu ’11 and Stephen J. Chester ’10.

Waiters served dishes such as kung pao chicken, yu xiang eggplant, and roast duck that were to be shared by the entire table.

The banquet also offered students of non-Chinese heritage the chance to experience traditional Chinese foods and performances.

“The wu-shu was tight, but all of it was really interesting and well done,” said MIT freshman Aaron T. Quinn.

Similarly, Nicholas P. Castaneda ’11 said, “I really like the music now and I have more respect for Chinese culture. I’m thinking about joining CSA now.”

Chinese students also said they found the performances interesting. Fangyu “Ferris” Zhang ’11 noted that “AADT’s hip-hop ‘Rain’ dance was symbolic in showing how Eastern and Western cultures were connecting.”

Social Co-Chairs Sheng Si ’11 and Felix M. Zhang ’11 performed a wildly popular and rather suggestive demonstration of how to make Chinese noodles, adding humor to the evening.

First prize for a raffle benefitting the Rural China Education Fund turned out to be 24 cups of ramen noodles.