South’s annual China Night transformed the Playhouse into a beautiful cultural celebration with dynamic performances and community spirit.

     This year’s China Night celebrated the Year of the Snake, the sixth Chinese zodiac. Parents and students arrived at South at 6 p.m. to enjoy cultural booths before gathering in the Playhouse for a two-hour-long show. This annual show is organized by the Chinese Culture Club Council, and this year, the club was headed by President Gina Shen (‘25).

     “I chose to be a council member because after experiencing an amazing China Night myself in my freshman year, I wanted to join the team and continue to add and contribute to such a great event,” said Shen.

     Working with Shen was Vice President Alice Wei (‘26); Secretary and Treasurer Colin Mak (‘26); Act Directors Andrew Yuan (‘26) and Anna Chen (‘26); Decos Officers Isabella Chau (‘25), Ken Takahashi (‘26) and Katie Shan (‘25); and Public Relations officer Elyssa Leung (‘27). While advisers Ms. Vivian Yu and Ms. Angel Steiner played supportive roles, the production for the event was managed by the students, leaving the council members with a challenging task.

     Speaking about the responsibility of being a council member, Shen said, “The hardest part is keeping track of all the things you have to do. There are a lot of things to account for and it’s really easy to forget about something.More often than I expected, not everything goes your way and you have to quickly find solutions.”

     Yuan said, “The time commitment was a lot. Especially once we got closer to China Night, it took a lot of time and effort to really get everything right.”

     Despite the obstacles, council members found ways to work together and make China Night a success. “I did see a lot more teamwork and growth in my peers compared to last year,” said Wei.

     With this year’s China Night complete, council members reflected on the joys of their successes.

    “My favorite part about China Night was definitely just seeing everyone super happy and just enjoying the events that we put out,” said Yuan.

     As the club prepares to transition to a new council, Shen reflected on her experience and gave advice as the only current member who will graduate this year.

     ““My biggest takeaway as a council member is that building strong connections is the most important factor to a successful event,” said Shen. “Because we always constantly communicated, a lot of us were able to form really strong bonds. I am very grateful for everyone in the team who pulled this together.”