February 10 was the Chinese New Year’s Day in 2013. Huaxia Chinese School at Plainsboro (HXPCS) hosted a spectacular Chinese New Year celebration at High School North. Nearly 200 performers staged a marvelous show in front of 800 local residents. The audience enjoyed a variety of performance by several well known professional musicians, vocalists, and an acrobat, who were joined by Chinese music ensembles, community orchestra, dance group, and students at the school.
The show was co-hosted by Kai Yue Foundation, the American Alliance for World Music and Arts, and Bravura Youth Orchestra. Kai Yue Foundation made the largest donation in the history of HXPCS that covered the entire production cost of the show. AAWMA and BYO delivered their signature pieces that were specially created for this event. We thank Jim Huang, Yang Yi, and Chiu-Tze Lin, representatives of the respective organizations, for their great vision and partnership.
We thank Rep. Rush Holt, who sent warm greetings to the event.
We thank D-14 state legislators, Senator Linda Greenstein, Assemblyman Wayne DeAngelo, and Assemblyman Daniel Benson. They presented a joint proclamation by New Jersey Senate and General Assembly praising our school. The proclamation was signed by Senate President Stephen Sweeney and Assembly Speaker Sheila Oliver.
We thank Plainsboro Mayor Peter Cantu and West Windsor Mayor Shing-Fu Hsueh, who each brought a proclamation.
We thank Plainsboro Deputy Mayor Neil Lewis, Councilman Nuran Nabi, Cranbury Mayor Glenn Johnson, Ewing Mayor Bert Steinmann, South Brunswick Mayor Frank Gambatese, East Windsor Mayor Janice Mironov, Lawrence Mayor Jim Kownacki, Monroe Township planning board member John Riggs, Huaxia Chinese School Honorary President Minwei Lu, and Central Jersey Chinese American Association President Tianhong Li.
We thank West Windsor Plainsboro School District Superintendent Victoria Kniewel and Board President Hemant Marathe. We appreciate the district’s strong support that has enabled our Chinese school to survive and grow over the last 14 years.
We thank several prominent Chinese professors at Princeton University. The Chinese community is so proud of them.
We thank representatives of Plainsboro Library and West Windsor Library. We thank all the former principals and chairpersons of our school, who made tremendous contributions to our school. We thank all the performers who have spent several months rehearsing for the show. We thank all the volunteers for their dedication and hard work.
With 20 branches and more than 7,000 students in New Jersey, New York, Connecticut, and Pennsylvania, Huaxia is the largest Chinese school system in North America. New Jersey is its headquarters and boasts 12 branches. The Plainsboro branch is the largest of all and has 700 students from more than 40 townships, with the majority from West Windsor, Plainsboro, Princeton, and South Brunswick. Our class is held at High School North on Sunday afternoons. Visit our website at www.hxpcs.org
The celebration of Chinese New Year is a tradition for Chinese people worldwide. It’s an important occasion for Chinese Americans to celebrate and preserve their culture and heritage.
We wish the Year of Snake will bring good luck and prosperity to everyone.
Weihong Liu, Lisa Shao,
Manhong Wu, David Hu,
Shaolin Liu, Xun Zhang, Yingchao Zhang,
and Yu “Taylor” Zhong
Organizing Committee
