On the day, people would not wait to participate in the party and arrived at the restaurant very early. Our former board member Wei Cao (also a new mom) and Ren Chen welcomed everyone at the registration table with big smile. Many people were busy taking photos to keep the precious memory. Before the scheduled starting time, the restaurant was filled with alumni, family members and friends.

Different from the past new year celebrations, the party this year was primarily organized by two of the youngest board members, Ren Chen and Zhaoyuan Ma. With their talent and young spirit, this party was full of energy and new faces. They were also the MCs. They started the program by calling for participants to identify them by different decades. The alumni covered the big range of graduates of 40s to 21Century. Beyond the gap of ages, people enjoyed talking with each other so much that they even forgot the feeling of hunger.

President Mei Lu gave a warm welcome to all participants. She recognized all the board members, past presidents and special guests. Vice consul general Jianqing Zhang gave a greeting representing the China Embassy. Many more staff from different departments of the Embassy also joined the party.

The performances including singing, Chinese traditional instruments, Chinese comedy talk show (Xiang4 Sheng1), poem reading, etc., were very truly unforgettable. The first performance was done by two students from the University of Maryland. After that, an alumna sang two beautiful solos. Then, Dr. Chiming Wei’s daughter offered two pieces of professional level Chinese traditional instrument, Gu3 Zheng1. A Chinese comedy show talk “My Campus Life” by two young alumni Zhaoyuan Ma and Jinxin Wang brought everyone back to the life in Beida campus with great humor. The most memorable performance was the poem reading.

Graduates of different decades read typical poems from their ages starting from the 40s, to 50s, 60s, up to the 21st Century. Among the readers were many current or former board members including Qiyun Wang, Shuwang Liu, Yirui Mu, Mei Lu, Jing Bai, etc. It was a truly special experience for all participants.

The final program was identifying the campus through pictures. While alumni all lived on the campus, it was quite challenging for people to make them right since there were so many changes over the years.

In addition to the spiritual joy, people also enjoyed the delicious food. Many people even won door prizes which were donated by alumni and friends. All participants left the party with great fulfillment and started looking forward to the party next year.