This year there were two parties, before and after the 7th of February which was the Chinese New Year’s Day. The one on the 5th at the Wok Paradise restaurant downtown attracted more than 90 people and was a great success, according to Jia Yang, a researcher at the Electrical Engineering department. This party was organized by the ACSSNL Eindhoven, the Chinese Student association in the Netherlands.

Good company
The other party was organized on the 8th by Christian student association 4U2 in the Bunker at TU/e. About 70 international students came to the free dinner which has been a tradition with 4U2 for the past twelve years. The general feeling was that fellow students cannot replace family, but they can be good company.

“Chinese New Year or Spring Festival is the most important celebration of the year in China,” said maths Master student Zhi Lin, who is from Shanghai. “Many families are split up and live at great distances from each other because of their work. It is always difficult to get together. That’s why people even sleep at train stations to be sure of getting a seat on a train.”

Dinner included a number of special dishes made by members of 4U2. What you need at any Chinese New Year’s celebration are plenty of noodles. Noodles stand for long life, which is why it is bad luck to cut up your noodles. Don’t cut them, slurp them! Another tradition is the special red-wrapped packages containing lucky amounts of money you receive from either your parents or your spouse. Zhi Lin says as he’s not married, his mother is keeping his gift for when he gets home.

56 nations
Chun Yan Ma, who is a member of 4U2 and is doing a research Master’s in Language and Communications at the University of Tilburg, talks about cleaning the house from top to bottom before New Year’s. And then not sweeping the floor on New Year’s Day to keep the good luck in the house for as long as possible. It is also traditional to put on a whole set of new clothes to greet the New Year and of course to stay up all night.

Chun Yan has an arts degree from an army university in Beijing, where she studied dance and theatre. She traveled all over China giving dance performances and finding out about different cultures. She also worked as a guidance officer for new students at her university and studied in South Africa and Italy. “I’m very interested in Chinese local cultures. We have 56 nations in China, many with different languages. My favorite culture is that of the Mongolian people, they are so open and welcoming,” she explains. Chun Yan put together a special Mongolian dance for the 4U2 party which she performed in the Footloose dance studio, to loud applause. Some members of the audience were eager to learn the moves and were promised a workshop.

Decorations
The 4U2 party was held in the Bunker for the first time this year, which meant there was plenty of room: to have dinner, to dance and to have a drink in one of the bars. Sadly there were no decorations, as 4U2 had no idea what they were permitted to do. Plenty of talk, good food and laughter had to make up for the lack of visible ambiance. There was some excitement when students inadvertently pushed an alarm button, a mistake which was not well-received by TU/e security.

Chinese New Year consists of a number of celebrations, ranging from Chinese New Year’s Eve to the fifteenth day after New Year. A final big party for Chinese students and researchers from all over the Netherlands will be held on February 16th at Musis Sacrum Arnhem (Velperbuitensingel 25, 6801 BC Arnhem) starting at 2.00 p.m. There will be performances from all the large cities in the Netherlands. “We will provide two performances from Eindhoven. One is a traditional dance by a Chinese dance group from TU/e, the other is a song by a Chinese Rock band from Fontys,” says Jia Yang. Chan Yan Ma will also be performing at the party, this time in a special costume which she could not obtain earlier./.