By Jane Zhang
The Dartmouth Chinese Culture Society hosted its annual Legacies event, celebrating Chinese culture and bringing together students and members of the local community. The theme of the event was “night market,” reflecting the bustling street life of contemporary China. During the evening’s festivities, the Chinese Dance Troupe was showcased, performing Tibetan, water sleeve, and sword dancing to the show tunes of a Chinese television drama, gracefully merge the traditional with the more contemporary.
In addition to the dance performance, various “street booths” had been set up. Each booth featured various Chinese treats. I came upon bubble tea, White Rabbit creamy candies, dumplings, and fish balls. Of course, there was no bubble tea left by the time I had gotten to the booth.
A group of students were playing Mahjong, engaging in traditional Chinese gambling. It brought a festive feeling to the evening, similar to the atmosphere in Chinese neighborhoods when neighbors get together to play games after dinner.
A few kids from the Upper Valley had fun writing Chinese calligraphy. Chinese calligraphy is taught in schools in China. Quite a few Dartmouth students kept venturing back to the calligraphy table, writing jokes and comparing their calligraphy skills.
It was nice to speak Chinese and to hear friends speaking Chinese. Of course, as college students, the catered food was the big attraction that got us to venture through the cold weather to the student center. But we didn’t simply stay for the food. We stayed for the company.
