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Year of the rat

By Joe Vaccarelli
jvaccare@mscd.edu

Lion dances, Chinese folk music and martial arts displays, were some of the activities in store at a Chinese New Year celebration at the Empress Sea Food restaurant on Feb. 9 in Denver. About 260 people showed up for this celebration sponsored by Metro and the Denver- Kunming Sister Cities Committee.

The dinner, which sold out, was open to the public, but reservations had to be made in advance.

“We sold out about 15 or 16 tables just today,” said Betsy Zeller, director of the office of global initiatives at Metro and one of the coordinators of the evening.

Metro’s involvement in the evening was part of a continuing partnership with institutions in China and its education in the Chinese language

“We started our first Chinese course in the fall and added a second class this spring, and by fall 2008, Metro will provide a full slate of courses in Chinese,” she said.

The school was well-represented with about 20 faculty and staff members and 25 students in attendance. Most seemed to enjoy what the evening brought.

“It was really fun, very traditional,” said Dinh Urioste, who came to the U.S. last year from Vietnam, but is Chinese. “It’s what people would do back there. People are wearing traditional clothes, it feels like home.”

The evening started with a lion dance by the Wah Lum Kung Fu School, where two people in lion suits made out of paper danced in and out of the aisles of the restaurant while other members of Wah Lum played various percussion instruments. Guests had the option of donating to the school by putting money in a red envelope and feeding it to the lion. Feeding the lion on New Years is considered good luck in China.

“I really enjoyed the lion dance,” said Elizabeth Sierra, from Metro’s human resources department. “I didn’t realize there was so many of them.”

After dinner, the guests were treated to some Chinese folk and pop music, a martial arts display and prize giveaways that included a raffle and answering riddles such as, “where is the only place where yesterday follows today?” The guest that answered “the dictionary” received a prize. Prizes varied from gift certificates and tea, all the way up to sushi sets and a 24-karat gold statue of a rat (this New Year being the Year of the Rat).

Emcee Hing Ryder described traditions associated with the event.

“Chinese New Year, or the spring festival, is the most important in East Asia. It starts on the first day of the lunar calendar, which was Feb. 7, and ends on the 15th day … Sweeping should not be done on the first day in fear that good fortune will be swept away. Firecrackers will be shot off to end the old year and begin the new one, also to scare off evil spirits.”

The evening was pleasant for at least one guest.

“I really enjoyed all the food and talking with everyone,” said Suzanne Sullivan, a former Metro employee who now works in the internship office at Red Rocks Community College.