Purdue to celebrate Chinese New Year at the Union

January 27, 2011

WEST LAFAYETTE, Ind. – The Confucius Institute at Purdue University will celebrate the Chinese New Year on Wednesday (Feb. 2).

A New Year's reception will be 2-4 p.m. at Purdue Memorial Union, Room 118. The reception will feature food, music, calligraphy, traditional dance and sword demonstrations. The event is free and open to the public.

Thursday (Feb. 3) marks the first day of the Chinese New Year, the Year of the Rabbit. Also known as the Spring Festival, the New Year is the most celebrated holiday in China and Chinese communities abroad, said Wei Hong, professor and director of the Confucius Institute at Purdue. These celebrations may last up to 15 days until "Yuan Xiao Jie," or the Lantern Festival, which celebrates the first full moon marking the end of winter and start of spring.

The Confucius Institute at Purdue, which partners with Shanghai Jiao Tong University, is a collaboration among the colleges of Liberal Arts and Engineering and the Krannert School of Management. It is one of 350 Confucius institutes worldwide that are sponsored by the Chinese Language Council International to develop relationships and understanding between countries.

Writer: Amanda Sliepka, 765-496-3006, asliepka@purdue.edu

Source: Wei Hong, 765-494-3859, hongwei@purdue.edu