Spring Festival and Lantern Festival Recap
The Lunar New Year is celebrated in many different cultures. In Chinese culture, festivities take place over a two-week period. To welcome in the Year of the Snake, and our Chinese language instructors held two celebrations to share this tradition.
On Monday, January 27, 2025, we held the Spring Festival Celebration, a joyous celebration of the start of the Lunar New Year. Traditionally, auspicious red decorations are put up and red envelopes containing money are exchanged for good fortune, with families gathering together for New Year's Eve dinners. The Lantern Festival, which traditionally occurs on the fifteenth day of the Lunar New Year, marks the end of new year celebrations. Activities often include the lighting of lanterns, guessing at new year riddles, eating tangyuan (glutinous rice balls with sweet fillings), and more. Our Lantern Festival celebration took place on February 25, 2025, after a delay due to the February snowstorm.
Students, staff, and faculty gathered together to experience vibrant Chinese traditions, including writing calligraphy, playing Mahjong, paper cutting, creating snake-themed artwork, guessing at riddles, making paper lanterns, and savouring a variety of Chinese snacks and tangyuan.
Thank you to everyone who attended, and thank you to Dr. Xinliang Jiang and Dr. Rebecca Ren for organizing and leading these celebrations!
Photos courtesy of Dr. Xinliang Jiang
