All welcome to celebrate Chinese New Year in Salt Lake City

SALT LAKE CITY — Fifteen years ago, Mary Yang left her home in Beijing to visit Utah and celebrate a family member's graduation from the University of Utah.

The mountains fascinated her and — back then — the lack of cars wherever she went was refreshing. Cars were everywhere in Beijing, but in Salt Lake City, things just seemed wide open.

After moving along the Wasatch Front, she discovered people's minds could be as open as the region's vistas, and, as the director of the Utah Chinese Association, she now leads efforts to educate and entertain local residents with a Chinese New Year celebration.

"There is so much tradition during the Chinese New Year. People can learn so much. And we enjoy ourselves during the New Year, too," she said. "It's such an important time for us to be with family. A celebration in Utah could teach so much about our culture, so we started having a New Years event about 10 years ago."

Chinese New Year, also known as the Lunar New Year, is officially Saturday but traditionally lasts 16 days in China. The Chinese zodiac notes that 2025 is the Year of the Wood Snake, a time to focus on loved ones and make those relationships stronger.

This year, the Salt Lake City celebration will be held in the Salt Lake County Government Center, 2001 State St., from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. on Saturday.

Chinese dual-language programs throughout the area will also hold Chinese New Year celebrations, including a multischool effort led by Bennion Junior High School. Taking place on Thursday, Jan. 30, at the school, the event — which is open to the public — will include various activities such as making crafts, painting, eating dumplings, and playing games such as pingpong and a version of hacky sack.

Students across different grade levels have been preparing and practicing for educational presentations on China as well as entertainment for the family, said Michael Marcrum, an instructional coach at Bennion Junior High School. He also noted that local high school students who traveled to China will discuss their experiences and answer questions.

The thought of using Chinese New Year as a way to educate residents about China is important because it is so entertaining, Yang said. Eating dumplings may be fun, but listening to the drummers, watching the dragon dance, having a tug-of-war competition and creating lanterns and bracelets cause people to ask about the connection to China.

People can then see the culture as real, not a caricature on the evening news, Yang said.

Chinese immigrants are second in population to Mexican immigrants in Utah, with their first arrival to the state noted as far back as the 1860s, according to the U.S. Census Bureau, the state of Utah and the Utah Chinese Association.

Yang notes that those families probably celebrated the new year individually as their numbers were small, changing in the late 1800s when the population increased, creating a Chinese community in Salt Lake City and Ogden at the time.

Chinese New Year is still an important holiday throughout China and in Chinese communities around the world. People prepare for weeks for the holiday, which is often deemed bigger than Christmas in the U.S., according to National Geographic. The size of the Chinese and Chinese-descendent population plays a role in this.

For Yang, the holiday may not be bigger than Christmas in Utah, but it is still worth getting excited about as the day approaches.

"This is a community event, for the Chinese community and for people who aren't Chinese," she said. "It's for everybody. You can come with your family. You can come with your friends. You can come with (a date). You can come to learn and have fun."

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