Celebrating the Year of the Ox

When you walk into the office, you can see red lanterns hanging on the top. As you keep walking, you can see a dragon with colorful scales that have students’ New Year’s resolutions on them. 

The Chinese Culture Club decorated the school office to celebrate Lunar New Year. 

“To celebrate the holiday, people will decorate their house with red decorations, such as lanterns and Fu. Fu is a Chinese character that means blessing and happiness. So we decided to decorate the office to give everyone the atmosphere of the Lunar New Year celebration,” said Joy Sun, advisor of the Chinese Culture Club.

Lunar New Year marks the first day of the lunisolar calendar. The date is different each year. For 2021, it is on Feb. 12. The zodiac changes on the day of the Lunar New Year, and this year is the year of the ox. Lunar New Year is also known as the Chinese New Year. However, many Asian countries celebrate different variations of this holiday. 

“We’ve been planning for this since winter break,” said junior Ashley Huang, the club vice president.

The club officers decorated the office by hanging the handmade red lanterns all around the office. They used red envelopes to create lanterns that varied in shape.

“The lanterns symbolize a bright future for the new year and its roundness also represents unity,” said junior Jiexin Chen, the treasurer.

Other than the traditional round lanterns, there are also ones with the shape of a fish, the shape of a star, and the shape of a flower. 

“I like making the lanterns because I enjoy doing arts and crafts although it was tiring,” said Chen. 

The club also collected the New Year’s resolutions from students during the closed Trojan Time to create a dragon.

  “Many students are hoping for a better year,” said sophomore Laurie Chow, the publicist. 

The CVHS Staffs helped printing out and cutting the messages into the shape of a dragon scale. The officers then taped and arranged them on a large piece of paper to make the dragon.

Students watched a video of the decorations in the office during the closed Trojan Time on Wednesday, Feb. 10.

“Our club couldn’t have pulled off this project without the support of all the CVHS staff and the hard work of the officers,” said Sun.

The Chinese Culture Club aims to promote Chinese culture. During their meeting, they watch videos and host hands-on activities to educate peers about the culture. You could follow the group’s Instagram @cvhsccc for meeting reminders and club updates.