The Jefferson Chinese Honor Society (CHS) hosted a Chinese New Year celebration on Jan. 31 during 8th period. The Lunar New Year, also known as the spring festival, is a 15-day holiday that is the Chinese variant of the American new year. The date for this celebration changes every year as it occurs every 12 new moon cycles. The holiday occurred on Jan. 25. In honor of this occasion, CHS planned an event where students can eat Chinese food while learning more about the culture.

“The event is about celebrating spring festival or Chinese new year and that’s actually a tradition that I had, so I pretty much knew the presentation they gave,” junior Erin Li said.

To kick off the activity, the officers gave a short presentation on the customs and history of the new year tradition. According to mythology, a monster with the name of Nian would come to hunt people and livestock during this time of the year. People believe that by wearing red and creating sound with firecrackers they can protect themselves against this monster.

The event was open to all Jefferson students, regardless of whether they took Chinese class.  After the presentation, the students were invited to try a variety of Chinese food.

“I heard there was good food so that was one of the reasons I came” Li said.

The students who attended had received the opportunity to learn about this unique tradition while eating chinese food and chatting with friends.