New Year begins Saturday, February 10

Delta Digital News Service

Friday, Feb. 9, 2024

By Avery Jones | Editor

JONESBORO, Ark. – Chinese New Year is a celebration based on the lunar calendar rather than the Gregorian calendar, which is the calendar used in the U.S. as well as many other parts of the world. 

The year begins with the first new moon of the year, which falls around the end of January and into February, and lasts for several days until the moon is full again. Each year is represented by a different animal of the Chinese zodiac; this year is the Year of the Dragon.

This year, the first day of Lunar New Year is on February 10. However, it’s not only celebrated in China, but in many East Asian communities around the world, including here in Jonesboro.

This year the Jonesboro Chinese Baptist Church will host a New Year’s party on February 10 at the Baptist Collegiate Ministry building on the ASU Jonesboro campus from 5 p.m. to 8:30 p.m. There is no entry fee and the event is open to anyone.

Greg Meeks is pastor of the church and helped to start the celebration. In Taiwan, he was the superintendent of an international Christian English-speaking school. Meeks worked in Taiwan for over 20 years as a missionary before moving back to Arkansas to teach at Arkansas State University.

At ASU, Meeks taught a classes with many international students, mostly Chinese. It was this class that gave birth to the Chinese Church.

“It just kind of morphed into a Chinese class, and as time [went] on, it grew larger and ended up starting services and just continued from there,” Meeks stated.

The celebration is adorned with food, traditional Chinese customs, a musical program, Bingo and gift card drawings. Children often perform songs or play musical instruments.

Members find out about the event through various venues such as the Chinese grocery store, Chinese restaurants, and Chinese university students.

Meeks describes the event as a “social ministry.” In the past, they have attempted to get contact information from attendees and encourage them to visit the church. However, it’s a very relaxed event for celebrating the New Year and not for evangelizing.

“One of our core purposes is to give Chinese a sense of family because there are expats here in the U.S…most of them still have family in China and other places,” he said. 

There are many traditional customs associated with Chinese New Year, and those who attend the church’s party usually adhere to a few of them. For instance, many of the attendees will wear more traditional Chinese dress, and many also wear red as well since red is considered a celebratory color.

In addition, fish is commonly served during Chinese New Year meals in accordance with the Chinese saying–literally translated–“Always have fish.” Fish is considered a blessing for prosperity. Another common custom is to gift their children red envelopes containing money.

The Craighead County Jonesboro Public Library also hosted a celebration for Lunar New Year. Friday, February 9, starting at 4:30 p.m. in the Round Room. Festivities included two sessions of story time followed by crafts with light refreshments.

This was the first in-person version of the program that the library hosted. According to Ali Tran, adult services staff at the library, the library is trying to host more events that showcase the diversity of the local community.

“It’s a learning experience for parts of our community who may not know about this cultural celebration, but it also provides a safe space for our minority groups to come in and celebrate parts of their culture,” Tran said. “We want to try to reach out to more diverse groups in our community and uplift them, raise awareness about the different cultures we have even here in Jonesboro.”

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NOTE: Feature photo by Ivan Aleksic on Unsplash