The lunar calendar’s Year of the Sheep begins Feb. 19, and the celebrations have already begun.
The first, a 10-course feast and entertainment extravaganza, was hosted by , the Colorado Asian Culture and Education Network and the Rocky Mountain Chinese Weekly and brought 240 people to King’s Land Seafood Restaurant on Feb. 6.
The following night, the restaurant again was filled — this time for a celebration benefiting the .
Upcoming parties include the on Feb. 21 at the Marriott Tech Center and banquet on Feb. 28 at Empress Chinese Restaurant. There is also a Sip n’ Paint Chinese New Year party Feb. 19 at , 2563 15th St.
“Seven years ago, our first dinner was small — just eight tables,” noted Annie Guo, the president of Asian Avenue Magazine. “This year there are 24.”
Guo and her mother, magazine founder Christina Yutai Guo, put together a celebration that began with the traditional dragon and lion dance by members of the Colorado Asian Cultural Heritage Center. Later, there weres electric violin selections by , Chinese yo-yo demonstrations by Eric Zhao, William Kong, Nathan Zhao and Jack Liu from the Great Wall Chinese Academy, and a show of cultural attire modeled by Miss Asian American Colorado participants Agnes Pham, Thuy Trang, Jennifer Khat, Allison Riley, Mai Choua Lee, Abhi Ramaswami and Lisa Young.
Guests included Tria Xiong, co-founder of the region’s first Asian-American theater company, Theatre Esprit Asia; Shigemi “Sherry” Cree of Real Living Colorado Real Estate, one of the evening’s sponsors; Arrow Electronic’s Mary Monzon with boyfriend Hamid Goudarzi; state Rep. Paul Rosenthal; Candise Tom; Harry Budisidharta, the health advocate for Asian Pacific Development Center; Pudy and Vic Salva; Mary Williams; Truc Nguyen; John Yee with his wife, Nai-Li, who is a former teacher and principal at the Colorado Chinese Language School; and optometrist Danny VanDan Nguyen, the dinner’s master of ceremonies.
Joanne Davidson: 303-809-1314, jdavidson@denverpost.com or twitter.com/joannedavidson
