Students try to escape into the Chinese culture

The event was called “Escape into a night of Chinese culture,” and many students escaped into… The event was called “Escape into a night of Chinese culture,” and many students escaped into the William Pitt Union Ballroom for an evening of Chinese games and music.

The Pitt group Chinese-American Students Association and Carnegie Mellon University’s Asian Student Association gathered together on Saturday for a celebration of Chinese culture.

“They were originally going to call it game night,” said freshman Ted Wysor.

And that may have been more appropriate, since most of the evening was dedicated to playing traditional and non-traditional Chinese games.

Chinese yo-yos, known as diablos in Western culture, flew high into the air as experienced yo-yoers showed confused onlookers how to operate the spinning dumbbell-like toy. The object is to get the dumbbell spinning faster and faster by manipulating two sticks tied together with a thin string.

Instructors were also on-hand to demonstrate calligraphy, sushi rolling and mah-jongg — a traditional Chinese tile game.

Karaoke and dancing also added to the excitement of the night.

A video game tournament, during whichstudents tested their skills at Halo for prizes, topped off the night. Several large projection screens and many TV’s on carts were set up for video game use as students competed for gift certificates.

“We are just informing people of Chinese culture, and raising a little money because we want to do bigger and better stuff next year,” said Alan Lee, a senior and president of CASA.