On January 25th, 13 members of the East Cobb Branch hosted a Chinese New Year festival at the East Cobb Library.
Members of the branch prepared activities such as performance, presentations, games, crafts, and food to share the holiday with the community.
On the day of the festival, members first performed a variety of songs, dances and introductions about the holiday. One member performed a traditional Chinese dance called “Spring”. Other performances included guzheng performances, Chinese calligraphy demonstrations, and singing. Members of the branch also gave two presentations that talked about the zodiacs and Chinese New Year traditions. During the presentation, members created a variety of activities such as teaching children how to wish others a “happy new year” and were given red envelopes and handwritten Chinese calligraphy posters. During the zodiac presentation, members asked the audience what zodiacs they were. At the end of the performance, all the members of the branch sang “Jasmine flower” and “Happy New Year”.
After the performance, received numerous amounts of compliments by the audience. Some children even asked to take pictures with our members wearing Chinese traditional wear. Some families also shared their experiences visiting in China or living in China. One American family told our members how they lived in China for eight years, and they thought that their children were losing their Chinese culture so they came to the festival.
Members then set out games and crafts for people to play. Games included bottle drop, pin-the -tail on the mouse, Chinese calligraphy, and lantern making. The children playing games received special prizes. Traditional cookies made by members the day before were also handed out.
Members were very excited to share their culture with others. It was also amazing to see that people in their community so interested in the culture. Chinese new year is all about spending time with others, and members of the branch were so happy to spend the Chinese New Year’s in such a festive environment.
Attendances: Eileen Zhang (2 hrs), Katherine Sha (2 hours), Jessica Wang (2 hrs), Kevin Shen (2 hrs), Emily Sun (2 hrs), Bella Xie (2 hrs), Rachel Li (2 hrs), Cynthia Ruan ( 2hrs), Gary Mei (2 hrs), Maxwell Jiang (2 hrs), Nick Vincent(2 hrs), Faith Huang (2 hrs), Jay Pan (2 hrs)
Report By Cynthia Ruan
