Cal State San Bernardino welcomed the Year of the Dog when the university’s Chinese Student and Scholars Association hosted a Chinese New Year celebration on Feb. 16.

The celebration at the university’s Santos Manuel Student Union featured a welcome address from CSUSB President Tomás D. Morales, cultural performances, food and opportunity drawings for prizes, totaling $2,000. For nearly a decade, the Chinese New Year celebration at CSUSB has offered a night of fun and cultural experiences.

Chinese New Year celebrated the Year of the Dog, one of the 12 Chinese zodiac animals. The event is the most important holiday in China. Tied to the Chinese lunar calendar, the holiday was traditionally a time to honor household and heavenly deities as well as ancestors. Chinese New Year typically begins with the new moon that occurs between the end of January and the end of February, and it lasts about 15 days, until the full moon arrives with the Festival of Lanterns.

Each New Year was marked by the characteristics of one of the 12 zodiac animals: the rat, ox, tiger, rabbit, dragon, snake, horse, sheep, monkey, rooster, dog and pig.

The celebration along with the Chinese Students and Scholars Association, the event was  sponsored by Associated Students Inc., the College of Extended Learning, the SMSU Cross Cultural Center, and the University Diversity Committee.