The annual night when Low plaza transforms into a Hong Kong-style night market!

Night Market is back! After a rain-forced postponement, the Chinese Students Club pivoted and rescheduled the much-anticipated event for Sunday, October 18th. Students were immersed into a Hong-Kong night market-like atmosphere, with pink lanterns surrounding the endless tables of foods available for purchase. 

Beautiful decorations with Low Library in the background!

Despite the market drawing on elements from Asian culture, there was a diverse range of clubs performing and serving food, from CU Sabor introducing audiences to Latin dance through  high-energy choreography, to Columbia Students for Global Health, Equity, and Medicine (CU GHEM) selling bracelets and baked goods to support maternal and women’s health in Uganda. Other foods available for purchase included dumplings, miso soup, and other yummy Asian classics.

Asian American Alliance (left) serving black sesame cookies and onigiri, and CU GHEM (right) serving muffins and cookies, as well as selling bracelets.

The center of Night Market (literally and figuratively), however, is the performances! Standout sets included those from Chinese Acapella, who incorporated light choreography to deliver a dynamic performance, and Bhangra, who never fail to capture the audience with their leaps of high energy. A wide range of dance styles was shown even within specific cultures, with CU Lion Dance’s bold, celebratory lion dance contrasting CU Ruyan’s graceful silk fan dances. Last but not least, CU Gen closed the market out with a stellar mashup of the Bad Bunny Super Bowl halftime performance and Bruno Mars’ Uptown Funk (who knew they could sync so harmoniously?), along with color-changing stage lights (don’t think we didn’t notice!). Seriously, despite the sub-optimal temperatures and the fact that my butt got sore sitting on low plaza steps after haphazardly stepping through the crowd to find a spot, I could not have pictured a better showcase of Columbia’s many student groups. 

From top to bottom: CU Lion Dance, CU Ruyan (photo by Maxwell Yoo), Malama Hawaii

While Columbia may not be known as the most school-spirited university, it was made clear by the huge crowds filling up the Low steps that students care about supporting one another, and pride themselves on the unique diversity here. See you at the next Night Market!

Drawings via Sophia Zhang