Senior Cristen McLean attended “China Night” to support her Taiwanese roommate and witness her interaction with peers, she said.
“I don’t get to socialize with her much because she and her friends tend to speak in their native language,” she adds. “So tonight works because non-Chinese speakers are very welcome and their lack of Chinese skills is not a bad thing.”
The Chinese Student Association, with the help of more than a hundred volunteers from the University community, hosted “China Night” in the EMU Ballroom on Sunday night. The event featured several Asian-inspired performances and a dinner of traditional Chinese cuisine.
“It’s like a culture night where the community gets a chance to better understand Chinese students,” said CSA Vice President Josh Wilson, a sophomore. “We like to bring people together.”
Achieving a better understanding of students and community members was one of the primary goals of the evening.
The Chinese New Year is coming up on Jan. 29. Wilson said
they wanted to have “China Night” in conjunction with the Chinese New Year but that someone else has the Ballroom reserved for that weekend.
“It’s nice to see the happy and excited energy coincide with the New Year,” Wilson said. “It’s good to see the community outside of just students show up, too.”
CSA President Sky Brandt was the emcee for the evening.
“This night couldn’t have happened without all the help we’ve received,” Brandt said. “The food is made ourselves here in the EMU kitchen and a few all-stars have been in the kitchen for the past few days for almost eight hours a day.”
He explained that volunteers were sent from several other student organizations, such as the International Student Association, the Japanese Student Organization, the Korean Student Association and the Hong Kong Student Association.
A small handful of students led an army of cooks and servers to deliver approximately 350 people a menu consisting of dumplings, stir-fry vegetables, tea eggs, Lu Rou rice, veggie-tofu, shrimp and cabbage, hot and sour soup and almond tofu.
Brandt said they would be serving nearly 1,000 dumplings and at least 80 pounds of pork.
All the food was brought out by women dressed in chi paus, traditional silk Chinese dresses owned by the CSA. This was a departure from last year’s buffet format.
The performances began with a duet with a piano and pipa, a traditional Chinese string instrument similar to a guitar, followed by a Tai Chi demonstration from David Leung’s Kung Fu and Tai Chi Academy. Then came a performance by the University’s Wushu Club (Wushu is a Chinese Martial Art based on the forms of Kung-Fu), a hip-hop dance performance and finally a skit that brought to life an old Chinese parable.
Among the non-student population who attended were a table of mothers who’ve bonded over parenting an adopted Chinese child.
“We all have daughters from China,” Jane Williams said.
One set of mothers first met at the Amazon playground, another pair met at Sundance Whole Foods Market. Williams’ daughters Maya, 8, and Rose Grace, 3, enjoyed the food and performances.
Rose’s laughter filled the back of the ballroom during the final skit.