On Saturday, January 21, 2023, AYLUS, partnered with the Pearland Chinese Association, was
able to hold their annual Lunar New Year celebration for the first year coming back from the COVID-19
pandemic. Along with Shawn Xiao, the gala was hosted by four AYLUS members: Kara Li, Tina Dong,
Edwin Gao, and Derek Zhu.
Starting January 8th , the hosts viewed the first, four-hour-long performance showcase at the
West Pearland Library, noting the required items in their respective setups. Following the showcase, the
four stayed 2 hours overtime for additional public speaking and language training from Shawn.
The following week, on the 14 th , other performances were revised and acknowledged in another
4-hour-long show, and an abstract script was written by Derek. Two days later, the hosts had a 6-hour-
long meeting for script revisions and more speaking training. Designated speaking pairs were assigned as Kara with Edwin and Derek with Tina.
The evening before the event, Friday the 20 th , the hosts met up at Edwin’s house to finalize the
draft and prepare speaking in a 5-hour-long meeting. Kara revised much of the English portions as
Shawn added and redid most of the Chinese lines.
On the day of the event, hosts showed up early to help in setting up the event and recite their
lines together a couple more times, then left to engage in their own interests as Shawn polished more
fine work in the gala rehearsals.
The evening ended in a success as the Nelson Auditorium was flooded with an attendance of
over 1,000 people, including Pearland’s Mayor Kevin Cole and Congressman Al Green.
1/8/2023 (6 hours): Tina tong, Derek Zhu, Edwin Gao Kara Li (5 hours)
1/14/2023 (4 hours): Kara Li, Tina Dong, and Derek Zhu
1/16/2023 (6 hours): Tina tong, Derek Zhu, Edwin Gao Kara Li
1/20/2023 (5 hours): Tina tong, Derek Zhu, Edwin Gao Kara Li
1/21/2023 (7 hours): Tina tong, Derek Zhu, Edwin Gao Kara Li
Report written by Derek Zhu
Link for GALA: https://youtube.com/@TXPCA
