Students and community members were greeted by young ladies dressed in glossy silk cheongsams as they entered the EMU Ballroom on Sunday evening. The occasion was China Night 2004, an annual event organized by the Chinese Student Association. CSA organizes China Night to present centuries of Chinese culture, and this year’s theme was Taiwan.
After the food, which was prepared by CSA, was served, the program began with Chinese New Year songs sung by a group of students from the Eugene Chinese School. The night continued with a play titled “Oh, Formosa” that lasted the entire duration of the event.
The play showcased different aspects of traditional and contemporary Taiwan, including a Tai-Chi display by the Chinese Kung Fu Tai Chi Academy, hip-hop dance, rope-skipping, Taiwanese “A-mei” tribal dance and a performance on the yang qin, a traditional Chinese musical instrument.
Senior Vickee Liang, who has been involved with China Night for the past two years, said this year’s event was “more relaxed” than the previous two she had worked on.
“(The committee) even went out on the streets and asked students what kind of China Night they wanted, and this is the result,” she said.
CSA President Wesley Huang said the group wanted to do something different this year.
“We wanted to make a play, to make people laugh,” he said.
He added that CSA chose Taiwan as the theme because it wanted to present both traditional and contemporary aspects of China.
Students have been working on China Night since last summer, according to stage manager Silvia Wang.
“A lot of hard work and organization went into it,” she said.
Junior marketing major Kevin Gui, a member of the public relations staff for the event, said enjoyed working on China Night.
“It felt more involved because we got to direct, to choreograph the (hip-hop) dance and be in the dance as well,” he said.
Guests attended previous China Nights and other Chinese cultural events no doubt felt “a breath of fresh air,” according to Magid Shirzadegan, associate director of the Office of International Programs.
“It showed modern Taiwan instead of the usual traditional Taiwan,” he said.
Peter Eberhardt, Student and Exchange Visitor Information System coordinator for the Office of International Programs, was proud that different international cultures could be celebrated with events like China Night.
“It’s great that we are able to celebrate all these cultures through events like these since it’s hard to do that in the classroom,” he said.