As the year of the horse gallops away into the sunset and the year of the sheep saunters into 2015, Chinese New Year celebrations come from the heart of China to the desert of Arizona.
The Chinese New Year, also known as the Lunar New Year, officially begins Feb. 19, but the Confucius Institute at the University of Arizona and the Tucson Chinese Cultural Center are kicking off celebrations early.
The Confucius Institute launches the festivities Saturday with more than 200 local, national and international artists.
“This year we have two special themes: a symphonic orchestra, Chinese soloists and a chorus, and then a Peking Opera,” the Confucius Institute’s Larry Lang said in an email interview.
According to Lang, the Peking Opera is vastly different from the traditional English opera. It is known as “Jing-xi,” or, “Beijing’s Drama” in China, and collaborates vocals and music with dancing and the martial arts.
According to Lang, each year the institute emphasizes a specific branch of Chinese culture, and this year the focus is on music.
Musician Jing Xia has traveled from her home in the Hubei province of China to perform a piece on her guzheng, a 21-string harp-like instrument that is played in a horizontal fashion. The guzheng dates back 2000 years in Chinese history.
“I’ve played the guzheng for 22 years and have been in the States for five months working with the orchestra,” Xia said. “I am very excited to be a part of this festival.”
Xia is one of three international talents expected to take the stage.
“We need to improve the understanding between communities and countries to make a harmonic world,” Lang said. “To share the performing arts would be a way to reach such a goal.”
The Tucson Chinese Cultural Center launches its celebrations Feb. 7 with its annual Taste of China. The center will also host a Year of the Sheep fundraising dinner on Feb. 14 with a three-course sit-down feast and a show.
The Taste of China will be a day packed with games, crafts, performances, and an area for purchasing Chinese goods and Asian cuisine from at least five different provinces within China.
Among the items likely to be offered is jiaozi, a Chinese dumpling that is traditionally eaten just as the clock strikes midnight on the New Year.
“The dumpling may represent prosperity, as it is shaped like an ancient gold ingot,” the center’s Robin Blackwood said. “It represents leaving the old and ushering in the new.”
