SAN FRANCISCO—A young pretty Chinese American walked through the halls of the Orpheum Theater at the conclusion of the third Chinese New Year Spectacular in San Francisco.
Betty Hsu is the current Miss Chinatown USA. Among her several other pageant titles, is Miss Berkeley USA 2008.
"I am very, very impressed!" Hsu commented. The 25-year-old Hsu has a B.S. in International Business from U.C. Berkeley where she now pursues an M.B.A. degree.
She describes herself as "I am ABC, was born in America, I am very American." Yet she speaks fluent Mandarin, and has interests in Chinese events and culture.
"To me, it is such an honor to represent the Chinese Americans in the U.S. I travel around the world, I meet dignitaries, presidents, I met President Bill Clinton, Warren Buffet, George Lucas, Hillary Clinton, I met a lot of great people.
"Confucius once said—one generation plants the seed for the next generation to enjoy the shade—and really, to look back at your roots, 5000+ years of tradition of Chinese culture, so it is such an honor to learn about my ancestry through the performing arts, music, dance, in a matter of two hours."
Betty was accompanied at the show by Aristotle Saunders, an electronic engineer working at Marvell.
"The show is visually stunning. The Tang drums at the end—that was one of my favorite parts, very well put together" said Saunders.
The show is "very deep in tradition, very artistic, even beating the drums they had their own artistic way of beating it" continues Saunders.
Some of the performances hit close to our times according to Saunders, as he recalls an incident two weeks ago where a journalist was beaten up and died in Hong Kong.
Hsu and Saunders heard about the show in L.A. as they were watching a Lakers game across the street from the Nokia Theater where the Spectacular was performing.
"I also bought tickets for my parents. They live in L.A."
Hsu was impressed with the combination of western and eastern instruments in the orchestra.
"I loved how they combine the east and west, the violin, the flute, the Chinese piano, the Chinese erhu, they combine so many unique elements. Every act had their own story, their own emotion, their own poetry—it was so emotional, very spiritual.
"The drum dance at the very end was the favorite—like an explosion, so well choreographed, you can tell they invested so much time and money, and all the different drums were so beautiful."
As she was interviewed by a radio station that broadcasts directly to China, Hsu's message about the show to the people of Beijing is, "Such an amazing experience such a great, great performance."
Hsu is the current Miss Chinatown USA. On Feb. 16, she will crown the new Miss Chinatown in San Francisco.
It's not too late to attend the Chinese New Year Spectacular. There are four performances left at San Francisco's Orpheum Theater, at 2:00 p.m. and 8:00 p.m. on Jan. 25 and Jan. 26.
It will also play at the Arie Crown Theater in Chicago Jan.25-26. Beginning on Jan. 30, the NTDTV Chinese New Year Splendor will play for 15 shows at Radio City Music Hall in New York City.
The Epoch Times is a proud sponsor of Divine Performing Arts performances. For dates and times of their world tour visit: http://www.divineperformingarts.com/sy/ticket_info.
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