A red and gold-patterned lion puppet, manipulated by two dancers underneath, maneuvered across the Norris University Center Louis Room to the sounds of clinging cymbals and thumping drums. Ending at the center, it “ate” the lettuce prepared beforehand on the floor, and “spat it out” towards a watching crowd.
The Cantonese word for lettuce sounds like “prosperity,” so the act of “eating” and “spitting out” the lettuce symbolized the showering of blessings and good fortune, according to Jason Yu, one of the performers and owner of Yu’s Lion Dance Sports Association.
The lion dance was one of the highlights of the Lunar New Year event on Saturday evening co-hosted by Northwestern’s Chinese Students Association, Korean-American Student Association and Hong Kong Student Association.
“When you’re at college and you’re on your own, it’s hard to participate in events like these unless you seek it out on your own,” said former Daily staffer Brian Han, CSA’s cultural chair and Weinberg sophomore. “Our clubs hope to make it more accessible and bring a part of people’s heritage to Northwestern.”
Lunar New Year is a festival traditionally celebrated in China, Korea and other Asian countries, beginning on the first new moon of the lunar calendar. The horse is the Chinese Zodiac of the 2026 lunar year, which is set to begin Feb. 17.
The student organizations brought together activities that represented their respective cultures. KASA, for instance, organized a simplified version of “Gonggi,” a Korean game featured in Squid Game Season 2.
KASA Cultural Chair and Weinberg senior Joanna Jung said the player wins by throwing two Gonggi stones and landing them on the back of their hand, then throwing the stones again and catching them.
HKSA provided sweets like traditional Chinese White Rabbit Creamy Candy for participants to put in red envelopes and give to friends. Red envelopes are usually filled with money and are given out during Lunar New Year from older to younger generations to signify wealth and prosperity for the year ahead, according to HKSA Co-President and Weinberg junior Fiorelli Wong.
McCormick first-year Jason Ta grew up celebrating the Lunar New Year in Vietnam and appreciated the opportunity to try new things, like CSA’s Chinese calligraphy station.
Participants wet their brushes with water to trace Chinese character strokes on a special water calligraphy paper.
“I never really did calligraphy before — I suck at stroke order — but it was fun learning how to do that,” Ta said.
Students earned raffle tickets for participating in the activities, which could be used to exchange for a wide variety of Asian snacks.
KASA President and Weinberg senior Caleb Shim said the Lunar New Year event is a long-standing tradition at NU and represents a community for those that might miss home.
“Home represents a lot of different things, including cultural holidays and celebrations,” Shim said. “To have a space to celebrate your holiday in a place that’s far from home is a great opportunity for students who might feel homesick.”
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