Cal State San Bernardino celebrates ‘the most important event in the Chinese calendar’

Written by Olabode Lawal/CSUSB Office of Strategic CommunicationPhotos by Corinne McCurdy/CSUSBLarge numbers of the Cal State San Bernardino family embraced and participated in the Chinese New Year festival, which took place at the Santos Manuel Student Union Events Center. The festival on Feb. 15 witnessed a variety of students, staff and faculty members from different ethnicities, and not only attracted members of CSUSB, but also visitors from the neighboring community to celebrate the Year of the Pig on the Chinese zodiac. It also featured traditional Chinese food, drinks, games, raffle drawings and Chinese presentations, such as Erhu, Beijing Opera, Sleeve Dance, Zither, Chinese rap, folk songs, folk art, “mask changing,” among many others. The event started with a clustering of different lines of attendees signing in to gain entrance as early as 5:30 p.m. They then went from vendor to vendor to select their choice of dishes, and then settled down at beautifully arranged and decorated tables with their friends or family. “It is a good event. It is nice seeing Chinese culture. Everything is nice,” said Joshua, a second-year English major. “I had a lot of fun and I am definitely going to be here next year.” Duhar Xu, a second-year foreign exchange student described the difference between the traditional Chinese New Year festival and the one at CSUSB. “The difference comes in the program performed. There are lots of performers in the traditional Chinese New Year, lots of songs and dramatic stories,” he said. “It is the most important event in the year. When it starts, the entire family sits in front of the TV to witness it. In Chinese New Year, we all stop working to play with our family and friends. During the first ten days, there is no work.” When asked how he would describe the Chinese culture, Dewen Andrew Sun, president of the Cal State San Bernardino Chinese Student Association, said, “I would describe my culture with kindness, love and selflessness. We follow virtues more than the interest we stand to gain or benefit.” “It is a celebration – it celebrates the Chinese students and cultures,” said Sam Sudhakar, vice president of Information Technology at CSUSB, when describing what Chinese New Year means to him. “It is one of the highlights of the year.” The event ended some minutes before 9 p.m. with a final raffle drawing and presentation of refreshments to attendees. The Chinese Students Association celebration’s co-sponsors include Associated Students Inc., the Center of International Studies & Programs, the Cross-Cultural Center and the University Diversity Committee.