The hot pot dinner attracted a gathering of students and graduate students, mostly composed of members of DAO, according to Anna Lynn Doster '12, the undergraduate advisor for the Chinese Language House.
"Chinese New Year is more of a family gathering traditionally, so we're trying to give it more of a family feel," Sam Hui '12, president of DAO, said.
DAO chose to eat hot pot, a pot of boiling broth in which vegetables and other food are cooked, because it is a dish that many Chinese-Americans eat at home, he said.
Students at the event expressed their desire to celebrate their culture and continue observing Chinese traditions. Albert Liang '15, a Chinese-American, said that the Lunar New Year was one tradition that "most Chinese people wouldn't care to miss," regardless of the strength of their Chinese identity.
The Chinese department will host a Chinese New Year celebration on Feb. 4 at the Chinese Language House, according to Susan Blader, chair of the Asian and Middle Eastern languages and literatures department. The event, which Blader has hosted almost every year since she came to Dartmouth in 1978, is a day-long cooking marathon followed by dinner and presentations, she said.
Students will cook traditional Chinese dishes in two-hour shifts throughout the day under the supervision of Blader, she said. In the past, dishes have included a traditional dessert called "babaofan," which means eight treasures and contains red dates, almonds, ginko nuts, prunes and apricots, among other ingredients.
"I do this for the students, and they come and cook all day," Blader said. "It's always a huge success because the students don't disappoint me."
Students will put on presentations during the dinner, including poetry readings, skits and musical performances, she said.
The attendance at the Lunar New Year celebration has always been impressive, according to Blader. Asian and Middle Eastern studies and AMELL students, faculty, administrators and other students affiliated with the Chinese department are invited to the event, she said.
"It's another way to understand China," she said.
The Dartmouth Chinese Culture Society will hold a dinner discussion Tuesday evening with Wu Man, a visiting Chinese instrumentalist who is highly renowned, according to Rachael Siegel '14. Although the event does not distinctly celebrate the Lunar New Year, it celebrates Chinese culture, she said.
The Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival and Lunar New Year, is the first day of spring on the Chinese lunar calendar, according to Blader. Because the holiday is based on the traditional Chinese lunar calendar, Spring Festival does not occur on the same date on the Western calendar each year, falling anywhere between late January and early February, she said.
"The Chinese New Year is the most important holiday for Chinese people, and they've been celebrating it for 3,000, probably 4,000 years," Blader said.
Each year is coupled with an animal from the Chinese zodiac, and this year is the Year of the Water Dragon, according to Blader.
"The dragon is the only one of the zodiac that is not a real animal as far as we're aware so it's considered the highest of all animals," she said.
Because the Chinese New Year is considered the most important holiday in China, celebrations extend for multiple days and used to last a whole month, according to Blader.
In China, people prepare for the Lunar New Year by buying new clothes and gifts and cleaning their houses, according to visiting AMELL professor Yanxin Bu, Celebrations feature dragon and lion dances, firecrackers, traditional food and family reunions, she said.
