By Madeline Murphy Smith
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The Year of the Monkey has started, and members of the Iowa City community had an authentic look into a traditional Chinese New Year Celebration on Sunday.

The University of Iowa Chinese Program and Department of Asian and Slavic Languages and Literatures organized the event, and the UI Confucius Institute sponsored the evening.

“China is an agricultural country, and we use the lunar calendar, which is why the first day of the Chinese New Year typically lands on late January to early February,” said Yu Li, a Chinese teaching assistant, who is from Beijing.

Li said that every year a new animal is chosen to represent the forthcoming year. 2016 is the year of the monkey.

“The monkey typically represents someone who is clever, smart, or swift,” she said.

Throughout the night, traditional Chinese food, such as sweet dumplings were served during performances.

A few sang traditional Chinese songs, one Chinese student gave an impressive martial-arts performance, and members of the crowd were invited to play a traditional Chinese game called “Carrot Bow.”

One performer, UI freshman Alex Siang-Hua Lian, played a traditional Chinese song on his guitar and received a roaring applause from the audience when he finished.

For Siang-Hua Lian, Chinese New Year is about a “fresh start.” Originally born in California, he has experienced Chinese New Year in the States and in China, where he spent two years of high school.

“It’s a lot different in Iowa City because here there’s only small groups of people gathering and celebrating, but in China, it’s everyone,” he said.

Similarly, Li said that Chinese New Year is celebrated differently in America than in China because Americans typically adopt many traditional aspects of the celebration, whereas China has modernized its festivities.

“Both are good, but I have come to appreciate the traditional celebration better after being away from China,” Li said.

Celebrating Chinese New Year means a lot more for Diana Boeglin, and her adopted daughter, Olivia, who is 11.

Boeglin said it allows Olivia see an important aspect of her native culture.

“The Iowa City community has always been warm and welcoming to us during these celebrations,” Boeglin said. “It’s important that Olivia sees this connection to her birth culture.”

For Olivia, who was originally from China, learning about different cultures and comparing them to each other is her favorite part about these events.

“I like learning about where I’m from and seeing all the fun games, dances, and performances,” she said.