Children staying up as late as they can to ensure their parents’ health and money in red envelopes are two distinctions between a New Year’s celebration in the U.S. and one in Asia.

These distinctions will be celebrated at the Taiwanese Student Association’s New Year Celebration beginning at 6 p.m. Saturday at Collegiate United Methodist Church, 2622 W. Lincoln Way.

Tickets are on sale for $11 in the Durham Center atrium through Friday.

“We want to make people feel at home here,” said May Chu, president of the Taiwanese Student Association.

“Usually we are with our friends and family on this holiday.”

Traditionally in Taiwan, the New Year celebration is the biggest of the year, said Sarene Lin, sophomore in business.

“Children try and stay up that night as late as possible in the hopes of guaranteeing the health of their parents,” she said.

The important holiday also is a money-maker for young family members, said Allen Tan, junior in statistics.

“The older family members give you money in red envelopes,” he said.

The New Year’s celebration in Taiwan lasts 15 days, each of which has a special significance, Tan said.

The celebration Saturday night features a dinner, five cultural performances and a dance. A 12-person committee has worked for two months to plan the event.

Committee members said a dinner is served first, with an appetizer, main dish, fruit and dessert courses.

Dishes include pepper steak, curry tofu, sesame chicken and more, said Chu, senior in early childhood education.

“We want to promote our culture for people to know more about Taiwan,” said Tiffany Wang, sophomore in advertising.

Five cultural performances will follow the dinner.

First, Chinese elementary school children from Ames will perform a short play. Then there will be a choreographed dance performance of party committee members to a modern remix of a traditional Taiwanese song, Chu said.

“[The music] is kind of like a mixture between Eastern and Western culture – a traditional song with pop music,” said Victor Hu, senior in management information systems and member of the planning committee.

The celebration also will feature a quiz game and another dance performance with currently popular Taiwanese music.

Following the performances, Chu said, the committee has planned a Valentine’s Day dance to finish the evening.

“If you’re interested in other cultures, this a time to interact with people from other cultures,” Hu said.

The committee members said they would like to see students from many backgrounds at the New Year’s party.

“We want people to be involved in our activities,” Wang said. “We want to communicate with other students.”