Hundreds of raised arms and cheers of approval filled the Great Hall in UNC-Chapel Hill's Student Union on Saturday night at the request of hip-hop emcee Snacky Chan. Snacky Chan was a guest performer at Journey Into Asia, an event intended to entertain and inform the community about Asian culture.
People with a variety of ethnic backgrounds packed the hall for an evening sponsored by the Asian Students Association that featured a culturally diverse dinner and a series of colorful and elaborate performances.
The evening began with a dinner representative of the tastes and traditional foods of eight different Asian countries.
Foods included mixed vegetables in coconut curry from Thailand, pork satay from Malaysia, chicken teriyaki from Japan and steamed white rice from China.
Nini Bautista, vice president of the Filipino-American Community of the Carolinas, said the foods were meant to appeal to a large group of people.
"They had a diverse menu that was a good representation of the Asian culture, but the foods were toned down for American tastes," she said.
At the conclusion of dinner, images depicting different aspects of Asian culture were projected at the front of the hall, while readings were given about the hardships faced by Asians in the United States.
Bhangra Elite, a competitive dance team that performs in the North Indian style, kicked off the performances. Each member of the group, outfitted from head to toe in a different color -- bright red, orange, blue or yellow -- danced around the stage to pulsating music and boisterous cheers and applause from the audience.
Their performance was followed by a moving bilingual rendition of the song "Reflection" from the movie "Mulan." The performers alternated singing in Chinese and in English, representative of the struggle of Chinese-Americans to realize their place in the world.
