The CI at Bucharest celebrated the Spring Festival together with ISB
On February 1 (local time), the Confucius Institute at the University of Bucharest (the CI at Bucharest) and theInternational School of Bucharest (ISB) jointly presented the Chinese cultural performance to celebrate the Chinese Lunar Year of the Pig. Zhang Jian, Counselor of the Embassy of the People’s Republic of China in Romania, and Prof. Li Li, Chinese Co-Director of the CI at Bucharest, attended the celebration and delivered a speech respectively. Prof. Sinan Kosak, Director ofISB, all the teachers and students of ISB and of CI at Bucharest as well as the local Chinese residents also participated in the activities.
CI at Bucharest celebrated the Chinese Spring Festival together with ISB
The celebration began with an elaborate short video featuring the traditional Chinese Spring Festival presented by ISB. The Chinese recital “Nursery Rhyme of Spring Festival”, songs named “Happy New Year”,“Jasmine”, “Golden Snake Dance”, “What is Chinese Spring Festival”, “Three Sentences and A Half”and other programs pushed the atmosphere to a climax. After the wonderful performance, teachers of the CI led the Romanian students to perform tea art for everyone. The colorfuland delicate tea sets and the smooth and beautiful tea art show won the audience's attention and admiration.
“Golden Snake Dance”, ensemble of Guzheng and Pipa
The CI at Bucharest held a cultural experience event to celebrate the Chinese Lantern Festival
On February 17, or the twelfth day of the first month in Chinese lunar calendar and a festive day to hang the lanterns.Impressed by the interesting activities, children participating in the event burst out into waves of laughter. During the event,Chinese teachers and volunteers led the children to hold a cultural experience event. Yang Yinuo, a volunteer Chinese teacher, led the children to make red lanterns and write Chinese characters of "Chun", "Fu", "Le" and "Mei", (literally, spring, happiness, luck, and beauty) on the lanterns. The CI volunteers also taught the children how to make the traditional food "Yuanxiao", a snack Chinese people usually enjoy during the Lantern Festival.
Students with their hand-made lanterns
Teaching sites of the CI at Bucharest held a series of events to celebrate Spring Festival in the classroom
During the Spring Festival, a variety of events, such as sending calligraphy of "Fu" (a blessing of happiness), writing Spring Festival couplets, making "Yuanxiao", cutting window flowers, were held at the teaching sites of the CI at Bucharest, including EuroEdConfucius Classroom, BacauConfucius Classroom, and teaching sites at AlexandruIoanCuza University, Colegiul National Gheorghe Lazar, Titu Maiorescu and Pitesti University of Pitesti.
Students presenting their calligraphy of the Chinese character which means “happiness”
CI at Bangor hosted impressive Chinese new-year celebration
On February 9, the Confucius Institute at Bangor University (the CI at Bangor) performed impressive Chinese new-yearcelebration at Bangor Cathedral to celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year of 2019. Nearly 1500 people, including North Wales citizens, local Chinese individuals, and international students and visiting scholars attended the celebration. This celebration was also covered by the local media, North Wales Live. The event was full of enthusiasm and excitement, including dragon and lion dance, instrumental music performance, traditional dancing and singing, Chinese martial arts, etc.
(The dragon dance, a form of traditional dance and performance in Chinese culture)
John Wyn Williams, Deputy Mayor of Bangor, Angharad Thomas, Director of International Recruitment and Development of Bangor University, John Regan and Jen Jesse, Heads of Welsh Mountain Zoo, Hu Xiaofan and Ruan Shao,Education Section of Chinese Embassy in the UK, were invited to attend the event. Li Kunyan, Chinese Co-Director, and Lina Davitt, Foreign Co-Director of the CI at Bangor, attended the event and delivered speeches.
(Group photo of the celebration)
The Welsh government held a Chinese New Year Reception
In the evening of February 7, Li Kunyan, Chinese Co-Director, and Lina Davitt, Foreign Co-Director of the CI atBangor, attended the Chinese New Year Reception hosted by the Welsh government. The event venue was the Temple of Peace in Cardiff, the capital of Wales. More than 100 people, including officials of the Welsh government, officials of the Chinese Embassy in the UK, individuals from Confucius Institutes and business circle, attended the event. Mark Drakeford, First Minister of Wales, Eluned Morgan, Minister for International Relations and the Welsh Language, each delivered a speech at the reception.
Chinese Director of the CI at Bangor had a photo with Andrew Gwatkin, Director of International Relations, Trade and Investment
Barbados held the 5th “Fish and Dragon Festival”
On January 23 (local time), the fifth “Fish and Dragon Festival” was kicked off at the Chinese-built Garfield Sobers Gymnasium, Barbados. More than 5,000 people attended the New Year Cultural Temple Fair of 2019, including people fromthe Chinese Embassy in Barbados, local residents, Chinese-Barbados associations, Chinese overseas medical teams, local Chinese-funded enterprises, and mainstream media reporters. The Confucius Institute at the Cave Hill Campus of the University of the West Indies, Barbados (the CI at Barbados), which was co-established and operated by CUPL, set up two booths to display the elements of traditional Chinese culture. The cultural exhibition covered a wide range of elements, including calligraphy, the Chinese Zodiac (Sheng Xiao), the “Collection of Chinese Scholar's Four Jewels” (writing brush, ink stick, ink slab and paper), the Peking Opera mask, the express delivery car, etc.
(Photo of Confucius Institute Teachers and Students with Hebei Yuxian Paper-cutting Delegation)
The whole scene was full of colored lights, festive Chinese knots, and red lanterns. A big number of participants enjoyed a variety of traditional Chinese culture shows and DIY games, such as calligraphy, painting, papercutting, folk music, folk games and national costumes. The whole venue was filled with a “sense of Chinese New Year” as if it were a traditional Chinesetemple fair. Overseas Chinese children studying Chinese in the CI were also invited to sing Chinese songs for the audience.
(Song with Dance—Let's Sway Twin Oars)
In the name of this festival, “fish” represents Barbadian famous specialty - flying fish, while, “dragon” represents China.During the “Fish and Dragon Festival”, games such as ferrule, guessing riddles, kicking scorpions and table tennis, which are common in Chinese temple fairs, attracted a large number of Barbados and overseas Chinese. People burst into joyful laughterduring the game, which lifted the atmosphere of the temple fair to a new height. Many local residents have won trophies such as Chinese knots, Chinese dolls, and red lanterns. Through games and exhibitions, they came to know China, understand China, and developed their interest in China.
Centering around the theme of this “Fish and Dragon Festival”, teachers of the CI specifically mentioned the“establishment of diplomatic tie between China and Barbados” when designing cultural Q&As. Mr. Yan Xiusheng, Chinese Ambassador to Barbados, and Ms. Michelle Doyle-lowe, Deputy Chief Executive of the Central Bank of Barbados, attended the event.
(Miss Li Renyan was explaining the history of China- Barbados diplomatic relations)
All teachers of the CI at Barbados celebrated the Spring Festival at the Embassy in Barbados
On February 4 (local time), the multi-function hall of the Chinese Embassy in Barbados was full of lights and laughter. Over 40 participants, including teachers from the CI at Barbados, embassy officials and their family members, medical staff of the Barbados medical team, gathered for discussion and party to celebrate the Chinese Spring Festival together. Mr. Yan Xiusheng, Chinese ambassador to Barbados, delivered a warm and encouraging New Year message and send everybody the blessings of the New Year.
(Group photo for Chinese New Year)
