It’s been a month since Mission High School celebrated Lunar New Year. The holiday originated in China and spread across Asia, and now it’s celebrated all over the world. Many students and teachers in Mission High School shared how they celebrated the holiday.
Ms. Stephanie Huang, CTE Coordinator, says that she celebrates with her family and extended family. They usually go out to eat at a Chinese restaurant and share a big meal, ordering traditional foods like meat, rice, fish, chicken, and noodles.
Ms. Stephanie and her family wear the traditional color of red. She also passes red envelopes to the kids. She and her family eat a lot of oranges for good luck. She also mentions that when starting the new year, some get haircuts or clean their homes. They buy firecrackers and dragons to scare away the bad luck.
Ms. Christie Chew, Science Teacher and API Club Adviser, said her family lives in Maryland and she often isn’t able to celebrate with them. In previous celebrations, she remembers playing with her cousins and seeing her extended family. She used to receive a lot of red envelopes. Ms. Chew also has been in China for the Lunar New Year and celebrated for two weeks.
Trista Lai, a senior and treasurer of the API Club, was born and raised in Taiwan, says she eats special foods for Lunar New Year: fish, a symbol of abundance, steamed sticky rice in the shape of a triangle, and Taiwanese sausage, made by her grandma.
“When I was little (before I was 12 years old and moved here), I celebrated with my whole family and we’d talk and eat at a round table. We play with fireworks outside and receive red envelopes. In Taipei, the whole city is decorated and here it’s just Chinatown.”
Lunar New Year helps Trista have “really good memories since I moved here. It reminds me of my childhood and seeing my cousins and family.”
This year, Trista traveled back to Taiwan at the end of the new year to spend with her family. Many people return to their hometowns to spend time with family for the new year.
The Lunar New Year is based on the lunar calendar, so it changes depending on the year. This year, we celebrated the coming of the Year of the Snake. In Chinese culture, the snake represents passion, energy, and transformation. Trista tells us that if you’re born in the year of the snake, you need to be careful. Lots of people born in the year of the snake go to the temple to take precautions.
In addition to the animals, the dates of the new year are changed. In 2025, the Lunar New Year was celebrated from January 29 to February 12.
At Mission, we celebrated on January 31, 2025, when the Asian Pacific Islander Club provided lunch to students and staff in the library. Ms. Argueta had students decorate the library with lanterns and red Happy New Year signs. According to Ms. Chew, the school spent $1,400 on food, which consisted of lumpia, chow mein, and rice.
They also gave everyone a red envelope filled with gold chocolates. Anyone who found a red ticket in the red envelope in addition to the gold chocolate would not have to wait in the food line. It sounded like Willy Wonka and the golden ticket for his Chocolate Factory. I was not lucky enough to receive a red ticket, however, my friend was.
The event felt successful because it brought everyone together and people had a good time. What I heard from many people at Mission about the Lunar New Year was the positive feedback from every one of them. Lunar New Year involves family and friends and having an important time to celebrate. It means a new beginning and a good start to a new year.
