Happy Chinese New Year! Happy Lunar New Year! Happy Spring Festival! Don’t get confused if I say them to you at the end of January. According to the lunar calendar (the world oldest calendar), Chinese celebrates the New Year at the beginning of spring 2012 which is the year of the Dragon. Dragons are considered to be leaders and masters of cermonies as well as a loyal and noble character.
You might be wondering what exactly these calanders mean, ancient China was an agriculture-based country and Chinese people relied on Lunar Calendar to govern the agriculture arrangement every year. The Spring Festival means the new beginning of another period of agricultural growth. New Years day is a start of a growing season. The Spring Festival is an important celebration for families to share happiness and traditional food, such foods include my favorite dumplings! Dumplings are necessary and traditional food for Chinese New year. The food is a symbol of the holiday, such as the turkey is for thanksgiving.
Last week, you may have noticed that the dinning hall was decorated like a Chinese restaurant. When I entered the Goldstein Student Center, there were even more Chinese food than usual. I saw Baozi, dumplings and shrimp balls on the menu. I have firmly believed Syracuse University indeed put efforts to promote diversity. We, college students, can experience and learn new things from other cultures at campus. It broadens the horizontal view of students’ life. Thanks! SU! Happy the Year of Dragon!