UF President Kent Fuchs and students sang songs and performed dances to celebrate the Chinese New Year on Sunday night.
More than 300 people participated in the UF Chinese Student Association’s Chinese Spring Festival Gala held at the Phillips Center for the Performing Arts. To celebrate the Year of the Monkey, members of the club wore traditional Chinese clothing as they performed Chinese solo and hip-hop dances.
There were also talk shows that taught participants about 2,000 years of Chinese history.
“We want Chinese students to have this experience like they are in China,” said Yucheng Cao, a vice president of CSA. “This is one of the biggest festivals in China.”
This year, the celebration had better performances than last year, she said.
“This year, I’m one of the actors in one of the plays,” Cao said. “It’s fun to be part of it.”
Lucía Curihuamán, 23, said she went to the event because she was born in the Year of the Monkey, which is 1992.
“I heard it’s a bad year for the monkeys, so I wanted to see what they have to say,” the UF first-year pharmacy graduate student said.
Hannah Wang, a UF education alumna, went to the event last year and said she thought it could be improved.
“Last year, the shows were in Chinese,” the 25-year-old said. “This time, I hope they have more international shows for local people that are attending.”
Zhuoran Zhang, a UF first-year chemical engineering graduate student, said several of his friends went.
“This is my first year at UF, and it’s a little tough to meet people,” the 23-year-old said. “I think there’s not many Chinese people in the U.S., but the CSA is like a family, and everyone can share their feelings and have a good time.”
