PLAINSBORO: The Year of the Rabbit event at library

   PLAINSBORO — The Year of the Rabbit will be ushered in at the new Plainsboro Public Library on Saturday, Feb. 12, from 1 to 6 p.m. The celebration will afford all attendees a chance to be swept away with hands-on activity, entertainment and a myriad of Chinese New Year’s traditions.
   Admission is free.
   Opening the festive afternoon will be a reception at 1 p.m. to honor Philip F. Liu, whose photos of lotus blossoms will be exhibited in the Library’s Gallery throughout the month. Mr. Liu, an engineer by profession and president of Chilton Engineering Inc., nurtures the lotus blossoms he photographs in his own backyard pond.
   Throughout the afternoon, Chinese and English books will be offered for sale by the World Journal and Timesbook. The wide variety of titles for adults and children includes publications from Taiwan, Hong Kong and mainland China.
   The afternoon festivities will begin at 2 p.m. in the Community Room with a concert and a demonstration of Tai Chi. Then, at 3 p.m., with resounding gong and meandering path, Jin Huo Long, the GoldFire Dragon who “lives” permanently at Plainsboro Public Library, will awaken from his winter slumber, wend his way through the library and announce the start of spring, as well as the start of a full schedule of demonstrations.
   ”Doughman” David Lee, an artist whose talents have been enjoyed by the likes of former President George Bush and basketball super star Shaquille O’Neal, is back by popular demand. The artist forsook his serious “fine arts” profession to work with dough, because “it’s more fun” and it makes kids happy.
   Throughout the afternoon, visitors will have hands-on opportunities to sample Chinese cuisine provided and prepared by Plainsboro’s Asian Food Market; Chinese calligraphy with Yuchen Chen, May Lee, Michael Shiue and Howard Ye.; paper-cutting with Allison Kwok; Chinese knotting with Grace Kwok and Chinese yo-yo fun with Princeton Chinese Language School. Special this year, is a marathon presentation of rabbit stories from around the world, presented by the library staff.
   The games begin at 5 p.m. in the library’s Community Room, with chances to win Chinese prizes. Adults are welcome to join in the library’s adaptation of the Lantern Riddle tradition. There will be hundreds of puzzles, in both Chinese and English, posted in the Community Room, waiting to be solved.
   Sponsors have worked with great ingenuity to preserve one of the major New Years’ traditions — the beloved red envelopes, which usually contain gifts of money. Local elders and political dignitaries, including Mayor Peter Cantu, state Sen. Linda Greenstein (D-14), and library trustee Iris Chang, will be on hand to pass out the traditional red envelopes filled with golden coins — chocolate, of course. Mounds of tasty oranges round out the traditional fare.
   Plainsboro Public Library is located in the Village Center, at 9 Van Doren St. For a complete schedule of events, and/or directions to the library, call 609-275-2897 or visit www.lmxac.org.