On the eve of the Chinese New Year, people from all over the Salt Lake Valley joined to celebrate the coming of the year of the ox in style Saturday night.
The celebration consisted of performances by various local artists, plus a main performance by the Tianjin Cathay Future Children’s Art Troupe of China.
The Children’s Troupe was organized in 1995 and has grown to more than 800 members. The artists performed in front of a full auditorium at Cottonwood High School.
The U Confucius Institute co-sponsored the event last year but worked with only local artists, said Fusheng Wu, director of the institute. This year, they had enough funding to invite a professional group from China.
“We invited the Cathay Children’s group over,” Wu said. “We worked with various local Chinese organizations to present this program today.”
Wu said he hopes next year they can invite another group from China to come, but if not, they will work with local artists.
Chinese New Year always falls on Jan. 25, and each year is marked by an animal. This year’s animal is the ox.
Many people from different cultural backgrounds joined to watch the performance.
Mark Hoff, a lab specialist at the U’s School of Medicine, brought his wife and two daughters for the celebration after he heard about it on the morning news.
The event was a great opportunity to connect two cultures, Hoff said.
“Any time you can share events together, you can come to a better understanding of each other,” he said.
Geping Cheng, a native of China and a Sandy resident for the past 18 years, said it was surprising to see so many Americans at the event.
“I think it prompts a dialogue and (more) understanding,” he said.
Wu said the event was a great way to celebrate and understand Chinese and American culture.
“This is the main mission of the Confucius Institute,” he said.
Greg HarlowResidents gathered to celebrate the Chinese New Year with performances from various artists. The event was co-sponsored by the Confucius Institute.