The Chinese Student Organization celebrated the Chinese New Year with entertainment and dinner Feb. 2. The event, which was held in the GUC banquet halls, celebrated what is often considered the Chinese Christmas.

The celebration, which was hosted by two UNA students, took up three banquet halls, and every one of the eight seating tables was occupied. The event featured a dinner catered by Rice Box and offered everything from chicken, tofu, beef, pork, seafood, and rice and noodles.

Until the caterers were ready to serve, a screen was set up with a video of an actual Chinese New Year spectacle called the New Year’s Eve Gala. The speakers even offered trivia and a Chinese lesson for the audience.

“This is the most important Chinese holiday,” said Lin Zhang, coordinator of the event. “Many of the students are away from home and we wanted them to be together like a family. We also wanted to offer this experience to the UNA students as well and let them join our family.”

The CSO featured a variety of entertainment from a traditional Chinese song, dancing, skits and films of the festival in China. While the commentators were difficult to hear, the entertainment mainly focused on the visuals.

“This type of entertainment is very similar to what they offer in China,” said Zhang. “The event is very fancy and shown on television. Every New Year’s Eve, everyone gathers around the television at midnight to watch.”

The group prepared for around 250 people and offered free T-shirts to the first 100 attendees. However, the crowd exceeded that number and many organizers feared they might run out of food.

“I never expected so many people,” said Zhang. “We were worried but we were happy. I was so excited about everything-especially for the different cultures to see what we do and see how many similarities we have with American culture.”

While the organizers did use some time to encourage students to get involved with global travel and study, the rest of the event was a celebration of Chinese culture and traditions.

Though many of the attendees were far away from home, the CSO went to great lengths to give them and other students a taste of what China has to offer.