The Year of the Rat will be celebrated with activities and performances in both West Windsor and Plainsboro during February.
The celebration at West Windsor Library and Senior Center on Saturday, February 2, from 2 to 4 p.m., is part of the West Windsor Library’s Building Bridges to Our Cultural Heritage Youth Series. Organizers are Jean Chou, reference librarian, and Faith Yim, youth services librarian. The event is sponsored by the Friends of the West Windsor Library. The free event features dance and music productions, crafts, exhibitions, demonstrations, and refreshments.
Performances at the senior center include the Lion Dance, Kid’s Gong Fu, Chinese Yo-Yo, and the Taiwan Aboriginal Dance from the Princeton Chinese Language School. The Huaxia Lanyun Dance Troupe presents two selections choreographed by Dongli Li.
The ZiZhu Ensemble Band presents classical Chinese musical instruments including the erhu, dizi, hulusi, gu zheng, zhong ruan, and mu yu. Members of the group include Shaolin Liu, Hui Yu, Gary Gan, Ming Yao, Athena Xie, Hannah Lin, Duanli Yan, and Yingchao Zhang. Soloists from the ensemble will also perform.
Activities at the library include knots demonstrated by Mei J. Hong, calligraphy by Xian Jie Yu, and Chinese brush painting by Zhenhong Ye. Princeton Chinese Language School showcases origami, finger painting, and the chopstick candy game.
The board game, Two and Four Armies, will be taught by Yisong Yang. Ming-Yee Chiu presents a display of Chinese calligraphy on wood and the Chinese Zodiac. Shih-Chung Chang presents refreshments at the conclusion of the festivities.
Lunar New Year Festival, West Windsor Library, 333 North Post Road, 609-799-0462. Saturday, February 2, 2 to 4 p.m.
Chinese Lunar New Year Celebration, West Windsor Senior Center, 609-799-9068. For seniors. Register. $6. Friday, February 15, 12:30 p.m.
Chinese New Year Celebration, Plainsboro Public Library, Municipal Complex, 641 Plainsboro Road, 609-275-2897. www.lmxac.org/plainsboro. Celebrate with traditional customs, art, dances, games, music, games, demonstrations, and performances. The library’s GoldFire Dragon, Jin Hou Long, appears during the outdoor opening presentation. Free. Saturday, February 16, 1 to 6 p.m.
