Penn rings in the Chinese New Year

Over 1,000 students, faculty members and Philadelphia families kicked off the year of the snake at the University Museum's 20th annual Chinese New Year celebration this weekend. The Museum's largest event of the year brought in residents from the Philadelphia area, neighboring suburbs and bordering states. On Saturday, the normally quiet Museum held dance and music performances, arts and crafts workshops and martial arts presentations. Janice Mullin said she came all the way from Delaware so her daughter could learn about a different culture. "Kids get a good education here," Mullin said. "A different environment is good for them to know." And Aiping Du said she came because she wanted to keep the celebration alive in her family. "I want my daughter to know some Chinese culture," Du said. "I've been writing Chinese characters since I was very young, but my daughter hadn't until today." Some of Saturday's popular attractions were readings of the I Ching -- the ancient Chinese art of fortune telling -- and traditional dances like the Hat Dance and Iron Fan Dance. People also gathered to watch chef Joe Poon carve vegetables into flowers, birds and cucumber hearts -- which he suggested as Valentine's Day gifts. "A rose costs you $29.99," Poon said. "This cucumber heart -- nine cents." Above all, the day was educational. Anthropology doctoral candidate Anne Martin-Montgomery lectured on how computer technology now helps recreate ancient landscapes from maps discovered in a 2nd century B.C. Chinese tomb, calling the recreations a "really exciting development in Chinese archaeology." Ting Jin, a bilingual counseling assistant at the McCall School, ran a workshop for children, detailing New Year traditions. Noting that many traditions differ from family to family, Jin said that they are all intended to "drive bad luck and evil spirits away." Penn's Chinese Students Association offered information about the culture, including games like Go and Chinese Chess. "I think we had a good turnout -- a lot of kids," said Wharton and Engineering sophomore Anna Yen, president of the association. "It is great to have the opportunity to let them know about our culture, since they don't have the chance to really get information [from] other places." Elizabeth Lebens, a resident of the Philadelphia suburbs said she could not agree more. "There is nowhere else [where] you get to see this many different kinds of art and culture in one place -- indoors -- in the winter," Lebens said. The Chinese New Year was officially observed on January 24.