The Chinese Students and Scholars Association hosted a Chinese New Year celebration in the Villanova Room on Feb. 1.

Highlights of the event included a Chinese culture show, free Chinese food, hands-on dumpling making and a raffle.

The culture show featured Chinese folk dancing and singing by off-campus dance groups. Dancers came from the Main Line Chinese Culture Center and the Great Wall Chinese School.

American Chinese-language students from Villanova also participated in the show by composing comedy and singing two songs.

Food was provided by sponsor Weichuan. General Tso’s chicken was also ordered.

Local restaurants such as Yangming, Shanghai Gourmet and Margaret Kuo provided gift certificates as prizes in the raffle.

Admission was free to both University students and the public. Despite occurring at the same time as the ‘Nova-Cincinnati men’s basketball game and the Super Bowl, the Chinese Students and Scholars Association was confident of a large turnout.

“We booked the room in September,” said Jia Liu, one of the event planners and an electrical engineering graduate student from Tianjin China. “We had no idea of the other events going on, and this was the only date available.”

The Chinese Students and Scholars Association currently has ten student members and ten faculty members. It is open only to the University community and is looking to expand.

This year was the first year they hosted a Chinese New Year celebration, though they are planning on making it a tradition.

Chinese New Year is also known as Lunar New Year and usually occurs at the beginning of February. The holiday generally begins on a new moon and ends 15 days later on the full moon.

According to the Chinese zodiac, 2009 is the Year of the Ox, which occurs once every 12 years. Lunar New Year is celebrated by many Asian populations as well as the Chinese.

The holiday was celebrated in Philadelphia as well. On Jan. 25, a Lion Dance and parade was held in Chinatown, with encore performances on the two following weekends.