What is one of your favorite Lunar New Year memories?

Lunar New Year holds a strong emphasis on family bonding and reunion, allowing for unique and personalized customs to develop in every family. Even though it’s Chen’s first time celebrating Lunar New Year, he also finds joy in the simpler moments alongside the traditional festivities.

“My favorite memory would definitely be just the simple stuff, [like] getting to play games with my little cousin,” Chen said. “At night, my paternal grandma left [a red envelope] on the table for me. She got to hand it to me [in person] and I accepted it and said the traditional blessing, ‘Gong xi fai cai’, [which] just made her really happy.”

While Lunar New Year is often centered around family, one of Purkey’s favorite memories was celebrating the holiday with friends at his Chinese school.

“In elementary school [I would celebrate with] both my family and at Chinese school,” Purkey said. “It sort of strengthened the sense of community that we have…the boys would do drumming [and] the girls would do ribbon dancing.”

Shay was surrounded by family and friends throughout her childhood, so her favorite memories are different.

“One of my favorite memories back in China when I was celebrating was that I had a lot of time to spend with the pets in our household,” Shay said. “I really like to spend time with animals.”

Without family in the U.S., Shay said that she no longer celebrates Lunar New Year as much, but still tries her best to stay connected with her friends and family in China.

“The feeling of Chinese New Year [and] the atmosphere is definitely lower [in the US],” Shay said. “But [I still] have friends in China and say Happy New Year [to them], so it’s very nice to know that we are still keeping connected.”

Regardless of how each student celebrates, Shay, Chen, and Purkey all agree that the most important aspect of Lunar New Year is bonding with family.

“Lunar New Year feels much longer because you spend so much time preparing [and] decorating,” Purkey said. “It has a much bigger focus on community, family, and friends.”