Local church will host Chinese Spring Festival

The Chinese Student & Scholars Association at Southeast Missouri State University will host its annual Chinese Spring Festival at 6:30 p.m. Saturday at Centenary United Methodist Church at 300 N. Ellis St., according to a university news release.

"This year is different -- in the past we focused on performances. This year we are focusing on speech and presentations," Zhenyu Guo, president of the Chinese Student & Scholars Association, said in the release. "Also, the festival will be in all English this year. [In the past], a lot of students could not understand it. So, we decided to make it in English."

The Chinese Spring Festival will feature Chinese cuisine and cultural demonstrations, including a Chinese dragon costume that can fit three or four people inside, the release said. "There will be a display table in which students can take pictures with the dragon. Those pictures will be sent to their emails if they choose to sign up for that," Guo said in the release.

The festival is being held in connection with the Chinese New Year, which was Jan. 31. The Chinese are celebrating 2014 as the year of the horse.

The festival is free for Southeast students with a valid student ID and $5 for the general public.