As you step into the Gold Student Center, laughter and conversation reverberate through the large room, and smiling faces greet you from behind a row of tables. You pick up a bright red envelope with a horse emblazoned in gold from the end of the table and walk past a pyramid of orange mandarins, stepping into the swiftly moving line. As you step forward, someone scoops out steaming spoonfuls of small, mochi-like balls — tang yuan — from a boiling pot into a paper bowl and hands it to you.
This scene welcomed students on Feb. 20 to a Lunar New Year celebration event hosted by the Taiwanese American Students Association (TASA), Claremont Cantonese Club (Canto Club) and Claremont Buddhism & Tea Circle. The three clubs collaborated to create a space where 5C students could come together and enjoy crafts and snacks to celebrate the new year of the Horse.
“We try to have a Lunar New Year event every year because it’s a big deal for anyone who celebrates,” Canto Club board member Josephine Yip PO ’26 said. [We] found out that [TASA was] planning something very similar … so we decided to make it a collab with Tea Circle as well and just pool our resources and budget together.”
Through weekly meetings and discussions, the clubs orchestrated a wide range of traditional activities that reflected familiar Lunar New Year celebrations.
“[This] year we wanted to have tang yuan, snacks on the side [and] focus more on bonding and community by having all these different tables of crafts,” TASA board member Alexandrea Li PZ ’27 said.
Many students find themselves missing home during this holiday. These clubs make it possible for those who celebrate to ring in the new year surrounded by friends, laughter and traditions reminiscent of home.
“My family has its own traditions … But I think it’s really about building community and coming together and seeing people you might not otherwise see during the normal year,” Yip said. “I think, here in Claremont, it’s also about giving that community to people when they’re not necessarily home with family.”
Because the Claremont Colleges do not officially host any Lunar New Year events, the responsibility for planning this celebration falls upon affinity groups and language residents. The diligence of these student organizations is the reason this holiday remains alive across the 5Cs.
While putting on these celebrations takes considerable effort, the deep connections to cultural traditions and with the Claremont community make preparation hardly feel like work.
“[Lunar New Year is] just a big day of family and spending time with each other, and you can feel the same warmth of home here, which is nice,” TASA board member Candece Lee SC ’28 said.
The clubs were intentional in making this Lunar New Year celebration extend beyond just those with ethnic heritage or personal connections to the holiday. The event embraced all students across the 5Cs, as the clubs were eager to share the beauty of East Asian cultures.
“[The event] was really open and welcoming to someone who’s not Taiwanese or East Asian, and I could just have fun and do the traditions for the New Year that I otherwise would not have been exposed to,” attendee Ariel Strubel Iram PZ ’27 said.
Red has always been a symbolic color of Lunar New Year. Its significance is rooted in mythology. In some Chinese folklore, the story goes that every Lunar New Year’s Eve, a beast called Nian rises from the sea to eat people and livestock until a celestial being, disguised as an old man dressed in red, chases it away. He informed the people that red items, bright lights and firecrackers would keep Nian away.
Remnants of this mythological story are preserved in modern celebration with red decorations and activities covering each table at the event.
At the calligraphy table, blank red squares were splayed out for people to write on. Many wrote common phrases such as “good fortune,” “auspicious” and “blessings” to usher in prosperity for the coming year.
In addition to the calligraphy table, there was a crafting area where students diligently cut out symmetrical patterns and characters from folded red construction paper sheets to later put on their walls. Similar to the red papers, these decorations bring luck and ward off evil for the new year.
“We had instructions for fun patterns,” TASA President Clair Wu SC ’27 said. “[But] one of the more traditional words [that people make] is 春 (chūn), which translates to spring — similar to renewal and warm, [like] life after winter. Lunar New Year is also often called the Spring Festival.”
At the knot-tying table, people cut and twisted brightly colored cords into clovers, agonizing over the slippery material and revelling in satisfaction when the final loops were pulled, decorating the ends with beads. These knots are meant to be carried around and are symbols of luck and good fortune.
Mahjong is another staple for Lunar New Year celebrations. The activity started at a designated table, but quickly moved to the floor as the group of intrigued players continued to grow.
This growing game of Mahjong, alongside other activities, offered students respite from the academic grind during an incredibly busy time of the semester.
“I think it’s great that we can bring a piece of home, community, during a really stressful week,” Lee said.
At the end of the event, the mahjong sets were packed away, and all the paper scraps and empty bowls were tossed into trash cans. People gathered their bags, their knots, their calligraphy and their red paper-cuts, chatting with new friends as they packed up their lucky crafts. As people trickled out of the room, the Mandarin phrases “Gong Xi Fa Cai” (wishing you prosperity) and “Xin Nian Kuai Le” (Happy New Year) echoed throughout the room.
It was official – the year of the fire horse is finally underway.
Facebook Comments