Mustangs Celebrate Year of the Horse

2/20/2026

Aaron Case

Lunar New Year can be a difficult time for boarding students from Asia, as they sacrifice the time they’d typically spend with family and friends to study abroad. But here at Millbrook, where every student is known and needed, we do all we can to give our international students who celebrate the holiday space to practice their traditions and feel a sense of home.

This year’s Lunar New Year celebration offered a few new twists. As usual, there were trips to eat hot pot and dumplings, and special performances in Assembly included a beautiful piece from the Chinese Sichuan Opera by Annie Huang ’28 (vocals) and Nina Chen ’28 (piano), along with a rousing hip-hop dance by Tommy Zhang ’29. But it was a surprise guest appearance by a student from Salisbury, who delivered a Bian Lian (face-changing) performance, that stole the show. Dressed head to toe in traditional garb, the visitor wowed the crowd by changing masks in the blink of an eye and getting various students involved in his comical antics. Scroll through the Instagram post below to watch a video from the performance:

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World Languages Department Head Zhaohong Wen, who works hard to organize our Lunar New Year activities each year, also put together a scavenger hunt this year. She hid 26 pandas across campus, and students solved riddles to find them. Merritt Sheffield ’28, Lukas Rizos ’28, and Jason Zhang ’29 found the most pandas and won snack bar gift cards.

On Lunar New Year’s Day, students who celebrate were given the day off from classes. They spent the time together, making dumplings by hand and watching the Spring Festival Gala in the Class of 2018 room. A sense of community filled the room, mingling with the steam rising from platters of freshly cooked dumplings, as the students sat family-style at round tables and enjoyed their feast. That night, many from the community gathered in the snow next to Casertano Hall for a fireworks display.

Thanks to Ms. Wen and her group of international student leaders, the Year of the Horse is off to a galloping start for the Millbrook Mustangs!

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