Lunar New Year Events

The year of the tiger is upon us, and this year’s Lunar New Year celebrations at Suffield included creating tiger origami and sharing a dinner celebration on the fourth floor of Memorial Hall. As food is a very important part of this holiday, celebrants enjoyed some of the best Chinese and Korean food from the area. Faculty member Andrew Yuan’s steamed dumplings were featured.

Following the celebration, Alex Chen ’22 shared that the “Lunar New Year Celebration was fantastic. It was the best New Year celebration we have had in my years at Suffield. The room had a strong festive holiday atmosphere with red paper lanterns and New Year scrolls. I was quite surprised that the school gave out red envelopes with lucky money in them. It was nice to gather with all my friends, enjoy delicious Asian food, and watch the Spring Festival Gala. Although I was far away from my family Suffield provided me a sense of home.”

Jason Yuan ’22 said, “We do many things in China to celebrate the new year, from family reunion dinners to receiving red packets from our elders. This year I am glad we were able to have a New Year’s celebration dinner at Suffield. Our school is an incredible place, not only for its academic achievements but also for its openness and commitment to cultural diversity. Suffield is not only a school but also my second home. It was my honor to be part of such a wonderful event.”

Faculty member Gis-Xi Nahmens said, “We wanted our AAPI students to know we respect and care about their cultural celebrations. This year we offered not only the dinner but also an arts and crafts night where students got to do origami tigers—since it is the year of the tiger—and we will be going on a field trip to Boston on February 13 to see Boston’s huge Chinese New Year parade in Chinatown featuring lion dances, drums, martial arts, and firecrackers. If the weather cooperates we will even see dragon dances.”

The International Student Leaders also shared that Yale University’s Lunarfest is making some of their offerings available online via livestream, due to the limitations of gathering socially:

Saturday, February 12: Tai Chi and Qigong Demonstrations by Aiping Tai Chi 
2:00 - 2:45 pm ET (livestream)
Aiping Tai Chi celebrates the Lunar New Year with a demonstration of traditional Chinese 养生 (yang sheng) health cultivation activities. Tai Chi has been practiced for hundreds of years and Qigong exercises for thousands. Aiping Tai Chi’s instructors and students will demonstrate different routines and invite the audience at home to join in a mini class. Hosted by the New Haven Museum. Register here. 

Tuesday, February 15: Roots of Opera with Wang Hao + Noah Fang
8:30 - 9:30 pm ET (livestream)
Beijing opera artist Wang Hao and ethnomusicologist Noah Fang introduce one of the role types in Chinese opera, demystifying the intricate gestures and symbols behind Hualian (花脸) in Beijing Opera. Drama and literature scholar Allison Bernard co-moderates this special program. Register here.