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Just days before the Chinese New Year, a dozen of Chinese volunteers, led by ACA, brought folk music and dumplings to seniors at Balboa Park, and had a delicious celebration in Chinese style.  This was the second year that ACA brought dumplings and celebrated Chinese New Year with seniors in San Diego, in promotion of cultural exchange and introduction of Chinese culture to the non-Chinese community. Last year, volunteers came to Mira Mesa Senior Center and shared with the seniors dumplings and demonstrated Chinese calligraphy. It was so warmly received and appreciated that ACA decided to make this an annual tradition for our beloved community.     Dressed in a beautiful traditional Cheongsam (QiPao) dress, Sunny Rickard told stories of Chinese New Year, and the tradition of the family get-together for the new year, much like the Thanksgiving holiday in the States.   A highlight of the celebration was the performance by a middle school teenager, Junnie Niu, who played Guzheng, an ancient Chinese instrument with over two thousand years of history. Her music was beautiful and mesmerizing! Junnie has been learning, playing and performing Guzheng since seven. When told about the event, she immediately volunteered to perform. Dressed in traditional Chinese clothing, she impressed the audience with the beauty of the Chinese folk music.   Nearly two dozens of local Chinese including several students volunteered for the event with great enthusiasm. They had first gathered at Xiu Yu's home and hand made about seven hundreds of colorful dumplings. Then on the day of the event, they cooked the dumplings at home and brought them to Balboa Park Club.       Twice a month, senior San Diegans come to Balboa Park Club for a social gathering, as well as to dance to live music. The program is run by Age Well Services of San Diego city government. On this day of the celebration, many showed up in Chinese costume. The event offered a rare treat to about over a hundred seniors with savory dumplings and beautiful music. "Thank you to ACA for providing volunteers support, delicious dumplings, entertainment and education at the Chinese New Year's Dance", said Director Jennifer Walsten.       So many volunteers contributed their time and talent to this event! ACA sincerely thanks the following volunteers and wishes them Happy New Year! 赵红，韩慧玲，蒋艳芬， 杨新新，甘燕，聂涅，Junnie Niu，Nicholas Pease, Max Pease, Haimei Stein, Yanping Zhang, Pearl, Xiaoli, Diana Chen, Michelle, Charon, Acacia Wang, Jason Zhou, Xiu Yu, Sunny Rickard, and Tracy Wu    Photo and video credit: Xiu Yu and others
Flyer designer: Yanping Zhang
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