OKEMOS - The Greater Lansing Chinese Association hosted the Chinese New Year celebration at the Meridian Mall on Sunday, January 29 after a 3 year hiatus. The event started at 1:00 pm and opened with a dragon parade around the mall.

The festival focused on bringing the entire community together to celebrate traditional Chinese culture that included music, singing, dancing and more. Chinese New Year has been celebrated for over 4,000 years and marks the start of the Chinese Lunar Calendar.

“I’m so glad I see a lot of people here along with more than 150 performers," said Julie Jiang, one of the founders for Greater Lansing Chinese Association. Jiang also feels that the event enhances connections in the community and wants to get everyone together and share Chinese traditions.

2023 is the year of the rabbit, starting from January 22, 2023 (Chinese New Year) to February 9, of 2024, representing hope and life for a long time. The Chinese Zodiac is a system that has existed for more than 2,000 years, and dictates which animal represents a given year with the cycle repeating every 12 years.

“We have support from Meridian Township, Meridian Mall, and the Meridian Economic Development Corporation. They have been supporting us since 2007. We’ve been around 10 years hosting this event without there help we wouldn’t be here today," said Yang Beher, the former vice president of Greater Lansing Chinese Association.

Jane Li, the current Vice president of Greater Lansing Chinese Association also had this to say, “The event was successful and hopefully can continue next year.”

The Greater Lansing Chinese Association thanked everyone who attended the event, as well their sponsors.