As students migrated to the courtyard on Feb. 7, they were greeted with free boba and milk tea, Chinese food, red envelopes and kite displays for the annual Chinese New Year celebration.

Throughout the lunch period, students had the opportunity to visit different booths to learn about Chinese food and culture. There were rice and scallion pancakes, dumplings, biang biang noodles and three cup chicken set up at booths around the courtyard, all of which were manned by Chinese language students. Along with the food, students had to the opportunity to try boba and milk tea as well as learn about the tradition of the red envelope.

Students in Chinese 1A performed a skit based on a Chinese soap opera, Chinese 1B students participated in a fan dance and Chinese 4 sang a Chinese song. For whoever they wanted to participate there was also a dragon dance .

“It’s really nice to actually have some people [learn about the] the Chinese culture due to the fact that our actual class is quite small,” freshman Lucy Lassman, who is in the Chinese 3 class, said. “It’s also really nice to see so many people supporting this culture.”

Students got the chance to not just try a few new foods or hear new music, but also learn facts about whatever it was that they were trying.

Seventh grader Miya Nambiar said she enjoyed the food and tea also appreciated learning about the Chinese culture.

“I learned for Chinese New Year there are a bunch of different celebrations,” Nambiar said. “For other New Years it just one celebration, but I feel like this is a more meaningful celebration. I think it’s important that we get to know other cultures and how they eat and do celebrations.”