This past Saturday, Binghamton University’s Chinascope hosted and sold out their 25th annual “Dragon Night” in the Mandela Room.

When entering the event, attendees were greeted with a raffle ticket presented as a red-string bracelet with a number on it — representing the theme of this year’s event, “A String of Red Fate.” Before the event began, the audience was allowed to walk around to take pictures with the unique artwork created by their peers, along with enjoying selections of Chinese food.

Yuki Li, president of Chinascope and a junior majoring in philosophy, politics and law, explained the meaning of Dragon Night and shared her anticipations and inspirations for the outcome of the event.

“Dragon Night is the combination of a year of hard work from our E-Board,” Li said. “It is our way of spreading one special aspect of our culture every year.”

Li continued to describe the theme of the event as red strings are very distinguished in Chinese culture.

“Our theme was a string of red fate, which fate and red strings are very prominent in Chinese culture especially when we talk about being fated to one another,” Li said. “It is fate that brought people all around the world to sit in a room in Binghamton, New York to enjoy this moment together … Our mission has always been to bring together the international community and the local community as well.”

Dragon Night consisted of a unique structure involving performances from Chinascope’s E-Board, Flow Arts Club, MODA and YBK. The event also featured performances from Linghui Tu, visiting professor at BU and national performer of Chinese opera and performers Gray Huand, Cathay Qu and a Hanfu show at the end. The event also included engaging activities and games with the audience, along with the E-Board’s mini skits with a touching plot that was shown throughout the event. Members of the audience were invited to the stage to participate in mini games and physical challenges, involving a push-up contest, bottle flip challenge, guessing games and more.

Preston Zheng, treasurer of Chinascope and a sophomore majoring in economics, explained his expectations for the event and what he wished the audience to take away from it.

“We wanted to create a space where [the attendees] could all feel free to mingle and feel comfortable, not just staying within their own groups [but] exploring other groups as well,” Zheng said. “The event created a comfortable and lively environment, as we want our attendees to feel more excited for more future events like this and to feel more comfortable with their own identities as well as being able to share that with other people’s experiences.”

Jonathan Persaud, attendee at the event and a sophomore majoring in computer science, shared his impressions of Dragon Night.

“I was met pleasantly with a great show,” Persuad said. “My favorite part was definitely the C-drama part. It was very enthralling. I was really into the story.”

Persaud continued to express how he was impressed to see the hard work that his friends, peers and other students have put into the event, especially regarding the acting, film technique and storyline of the C-drama. He also expressed the themes that he took away from the event.

“It is a beautiful culture,” Persuad said. “Me, myself, I like to view other cultures and see how other people live their lives. I feel like tonight was a great display of Chinese culture and how beautiful it is.”

As a result, attendees were left with creativity, interactiveness and lively energy from the event. Chinascope’s Dragon Night brought an opportunity for students to learn more about Chinese culture and encouraged gaining more experiences through cultural gatherings.