The Huaxia Chinese School at Plainsboro, which started with 60 students in 1999, has a student population of 750 in the year of the horse.
By Jennifer Kohlhepp, Staff Writer
PLAINSBORO — The Huaxia Chinese School at Plainsboro, which started with 60 students in 1999, has a student population of 750 in the year of the horse.
The school is located at West Windsor-Plainsboro High School North and has sessions on Sunday afternoon from 1 to 5 p.m. A nonprofit, non-religious and non-political cultural education institution, the school’s purposes include teaching Chinese language and Chinese culture and engaging in cultural awareness activities in the community.
The school rang in the year of the horse with a “2014 Chinese New Year Spectacular” at McCarter Theatre in Princeton on Feb. 8. Sponsored by the KaiYue Foundation, the extravaganza brought together students, community members and renowned artists. More than 950 tickets were sold for the event.
”The Chinese Spring Festival and the Chinese New Year celebration are our heritage festivals,” said David Hu, former principal of the Huaxia Chinese School at Plainsboro and organizer of the show. “We want to use them as a platform to promote Chinese culture in the local community. This was our first year at McCarter Theatre and it was an exciting opportunity for us.”
The school pulled out all of the stops and started the show with the “Guzheng Ensemble” performed by Shiqi Zhong and Yang Yi Academy Youth Ensemble. The show also featured Li Xia, who has won several national awards in China for vocal and piano performances, who performed “In the Field of Hope and “Blessing the Motherland.”
The extravaganza was a meeting of eastern and western cultures that also featured members of the American Repertory Ballet and Princeton Ballet School and a musical dance by Sophia Tian to “Love Story” theme music played by twins Kyle and Mia Huang.
Li Lin, a graduate of the Shanghai Theater Academy and Broadway actress, performed “Face-Changing,” a dramatic Chinese art that is part of the Sichuan opera. The show also featured a cello/guzheng duet, gymnastics, Chinese Kungfu by Master Zhao ChangJun, a piano solo, a tenor solo, modern ballet by Qing Yang Youth Art Performance Troupe, “The Lost Horse Overture” by the Bravura Youth Orchestra Ensembles, a skit directed by Kevin Lu, the Chinese Dai Dance by Allison Liu, Emily Luo and Michelle Pan, as well as a baritone solo and the Chinese Miao Dance “Blosson Creek” by Lanyun Dance Troupe.
”We want to increase global awareness and let other ethnic groups know of the existence of China and the rising economy of China. China’s has become the second largest economy in the world,” Mr. Hu said. “You don’t have to go to China to know a sense of our culture and our heritage.”
The Huaxia Chinese School at Plainsboro is part of the Huaxia school system, which currently has 19 schools in four states including 12 in New Jersey.
”We are the largest school in Huaxia history,” Mr. Hu said.
The school year starts in September and ends in June. The school’s main Chinese language curriculum is offered to students in kindergarten through the ninth grade. Advanced Chinese and Chinese as a Second Language classes are also offered. The culture programs include Kungfu, Tai-chi, fencing, gymnastics, badminton, volleyball, Wei-qi (Go), Xiang-qi (Chinese chess), math, traditional Chinese musical instruments, drawing and crafts.
For more information about the Huaxia Chinese School at Plainsboro, visit http://www.hxpcs.org/.

