On Thursday, February 19th, millions of people across China celebrated the first day of the Chinese New Year, or the Spring Festival, with celebrations lasting until March 5th.

Common holiday traditions include cleaning the house, decorating the sides of front doors with poems written in calligraphy, wearing red and gold, setting off firecrackers, watching dances and performances, and of course, eating meals with extended family.

The year of the goat is the eighth animal in the twelve-year zodiac cycle. A person born in the year of a certain animal is said to have certain characteristics pertaining to that animal. People born in the year of the goat are docile, accepting, shy, and mild-mannered. Some believe the year of the goat foreshadows a “calmer,” “gentler” twelve months with fewer misfortunes.

Here are a few things that the Chinese students had arranged for the assembly:

A lion dance performed by Chinese 5 students.

A Chinese song performed by Emily Cipriani.

A funny sitcom created by Chinese 3.

The song “小平果” (Little Apple) performed by Chinese 2 students.

Written by Jane Li’18

Photo by Alex LiChen’16