CSUN’s China Institute and Chinese Student Association are celebrating the year of the dragon with their annual Chinese New Year’s banquet.

The banquet will be on Saturday, March 17 from 6 p.m. to 9 p.m. at the Grand Salon in the USU. There will be games, raffles and food. The raffle prizes will be related to the Chinese culture and its traditions.

There will be presentations and performances from CSUN faculty, students and artists, such as a performance of Cha-Cha-Cha done by the Chinese Students Ballroom Dance Team at UCLA, said Andrew Feng president of the Chinese Student Association.

There will be a performance of the Chinese Dragon Dance by Immortals Awaken Lion Club.

In 1982, the China Institute was established at CSUN to support a relationship with CSUN and China, and has held many educational and cultural events in past years, according to director of CSUN’s China Institute, Dr. Justine Zhixin Su.

“We expect enthusiastic participation and  very high levels of energy at this year’s event, as we will begin it with a special dragon dance,” Su said. “We also hope to attract more non-Chinese students, faculty and community members to this event so that they can become more knowledgeable about our various exchange and collaboration programs, and become participants or contributors to these programs.”

The banquet is an opportunity for students and faculty to celebrate the new year and Chinese culture. Students can pay an estimated discount price of about $10 per person, according to Su.