They’re far from home, but that didn’t stop Chinese students from ringing in the New Year in Fredericton.
Chinese Students and Scholars Association (CSSA) and Overseas Chinese Students Association (OCSA) at the University of New Brunswick celebrated The Lantern Festival and Chinese New Year at the Student Union on Feb. 27.
The event entertained more than 150 people with traditional Chinese food and performances.
Lei Zheng, the president of CSSA, says the event is for Chinese students who live far away from home to celebrate its tradition because it is considered one of the most important traditional holidays in China.
Chinese New Year begins Feb. 14 this year and is the Year of the Tiger according to the Chinese Zodiac.
“In China, this festival is traditional and we celebrate it with a family. But we live away from home and can’t celebrate it with families, so we thought it’s a great opportunity for all the Chinese students here to celebrate it together.”
To make the celebration feel like home for Chinese students, most of the event was performed in Chinese.
Anthony Lister, an advisor of OCSA, says it’s still important to have the event for Canadians even though the celebration is basically for Chinese people.
“It’s important to have something from outside even though tonight is basically for Chinese people,” he said. “It’s still good and interesting to gain a cultural perspective.
Dan Legare is one of the few Canadians who were at the event. He says he still enjoyed the event even though he didn’t understood little.
“I don’t understand anything, but it’s still fun, seeing all the Chinese culture all together,” he said.
“Just watching it and being amazed by a culture is something I love to do anyway, so it’s still good.”
Zheng says the celebration was to give Chinese students in Fredericton a chance to celebrate their tradition when they are away from home, yet it would be good to share their culture with Canadians.
“We hope to bring some festive mood and celebrate it together,” he said.
“This is our culture and we want to celebrate it whenever and wherever we could.”
