Mississippi State Chinese students will commemorate the year of the rooster with several events this week. While the actual Chinese New Year’s Day is Wednesday, programs will begin today to teach students about the holiday.
The Chinese calendar revolves around a 12-year cycle with different animals representing each year. This year is 4702 by ancient Chinese dating and is the year of the rooster.
“Our New Year’s celebration is similar to Christmas and Thanksgiving in American culture,” Association of Chinese Students and Scholars secretary Jiandong Dai said. “Most Chinese students will go home or call their relatives during this time.”
Two lectures will be held today to explain Chinese traditions and cultures, such as martial arts and music. The first seminar will be held from 11 a.m. to 12:15 p.m. and the second from 12:30 to 1:45 p.m. Each seminar will discuss the same topics. They will be held in the Mitchell Memorial Library auditorium.
“The main purpose for the event is to invite American students so they can interact and learn about our culture. We want them to be a part of our New Year’s celebration,” ACSS president Cai Shangshu said.
A New Year’s celebration will be held at the Bost Extension Center auditorium at 5:30 p.m. Thursday. The celebration will include food, music and singing. There will be a $5 entrance fee for the event.
“This is a way to celebrate our holiday here similar to how we would in our culture,” faculty advisor Jilei Zhang said.
In addition to the ACSS, the MSU Student Association, the International Services Office and the MSU library are sponsors of the events.
“This is an opportunity to reach out to our international students,” library outreach coordinator Gail Peyton said. “Chinese students are the second largest international population at Mississippi State.”
The ACSS will also participate in two other major events this year. Mississippi State’s annual International Fiesta will be held on April 2. The other event will be the Moon Festival, which will be held Sep. 17.
Planning for the events began last semester. The ACSS raised money, as well as the MSU Student Association, ISO and local businesses. The total cost for the events was around $2,600, Shangshu said.