Lunar New Year celebration helps Iowa's Chinese community 'have that home feeling'

The Year of the Dragon began on Saturday, the first day of the Lunar New Year. Students and community members kicked off the holiday at Grand View University with music and festivities for the occasion.

The event was organized by the Chinese Association of Iowa, which has hosted celebrations of the Chinese New Year or Lunar New Year since 2018.

Community members of various ages performed, including an ensemble of euphonium players from Grinnell College. The trio of players included: Kevin Qiu, a senior at Grinnell College, Alex Sidler, a junior, and Ella Reed, a freshman.

"Back home, we celebrated Spring Festival every year — mostly with my family," said Qiu, who came to Iowa as an international student. "A ceremony like this ... helps me to have that home feeling."

Swallow Yan, executive director of the organization, said the event was not only to observe the first day of the Lunar New Year, but also to promote the diversity and the presence of the Chinese community within Iowa.

"Many Chinese people consider the dragon our country's symbol or cultural symbol," Yan said. "They believe that the Year of Dragon is a very strong year for the Chinese community (and) for the people in the world to build up our cultural or identity and our confidence."

Yan said Iowa's Chinese community remains energized, despite its relatively small size.

"We feel it's a very good opportunity for our students, for immigrants — for people — to build up their home in Iowa, and I just feel that Iowa is a great place to be home."

Zheyuan "Walter" Yu is a member of the Chinese Association of Iowa and coordinated the event.

"It is important to have a celebration with people who celebrate this day, just like people celebrate Thanksgiving and Christmas," Yu said. "For me, well, it is a good chance to meet new people — new people and old people."

Yu highlighted the novelty of the dragon being the only mythological animal on the Chinese zodiac, adding that the western interpretation of a dragon differs from the east's interpretation.

"The dragon is cool," Yu said. "The Chinese dragon is actually the combination of different animals, like it has the body of snake, it has the scale of the fish, it has the horn of a deer ... it has the nose of a cow and the eyes of the eagle."

Yu also performed a piece on an Erhu, which is a Chinese two-stringed instrument that is played with a bow.

"We hope more people join our celebration, and we can have a good time together," Yu said. "We have food we have celebration, and we have people."

Biong M. Biong is a reporter for the Register. Reach him at bbiong@dmreg.com.

This article originally appeared on Des Moines Register: Lunar New Year celebration rings in Year of the Dragon in Des Moines