w88 casino News Network (Contributed by International Chinese Education (Business) Practice and Research Base/Business Chinese International Promotion Center)From January 19 to February 11, 2025, the Confucius Institute for Business at the University of Leeds in the UK (hereinafter referred to as the “Leeds Confucius Institute”) successfully hosted and co-organized a series of cultural celebrations for the 2025 Year of the Snake Spring Festival. The activities cover universities, middle schools, primary schools and business communities in the Leeds area, and come in various forms, including concerts, workshops and artistic performances. This series of activities to celebrate the Spring Festival not only enriched the cultural diversity of the local community in Leeds, but also demonstrated the unique charm of Chinese language and culture, further promoting Sino-British cultural exchanges.
1. Love China, happy England
On the eve of the Chinese New Year on January 19, 2025, New Vision Education Chinese w88 casino, as the organizer, with the support of Leeds City Council and the Leeds Confucius Institute at w88 casino, invited teachers and students of the Guangzhou Feiyang No. 6 Middle w88 casino Orchestra to perform at the Riley Smith Theater of the University of Leeds, bringing a unique feast of Chinese folk music to the Chinese and local people in Leeds. The Year of the Snake New Year's Concert "Love China, Joy in England" attracted more than 300 Chinese and British audiences, who were all immersed in this glorious blend of Chinese and Western cultures.
This event has received great attention from the Leeds City Government. Ms. Abigail Marshall Katung, Mayor of Leeds, sent a congratulatory message for the concert and came to the scene to inaugurate the concert. Professor Song Jiwen, British Director of the Confucius Institute at Leeds, delivered a New Year's greeting at the beginning of the concert. The concert was co-hosted by Jack Popplewell, event publicity and planning manager of the Leeds Confucius Institute, and Cai Xiaoyi, principal of Lihua Education Chinese w88 casino.
Professor Song Jiwen, the foreign dean, delivers a speech
The concert was presented by the Guangzhou Feiyang No. 6 Middle w88 casino Orchestra. Talented young performers gathered together to play classics such as "Jasmine", "Joyful", and "Dance of the Golden Snake" using traditional Chinese instruments such as guzheng, pipa, erhu, bamboo flute, ruan, suona, and sheng, demonstrating the unique charm and artistic charm of Chinese national music. The melodious melody echoed in the theater. At the end of each song, there was endless applause, and the atmosphere was warm and extraordinary.
It is reported that this concert is the largest Chinese traditional orchestra New Year concert in the history of Leeds. This grand event not only adds a strong festive atmosphere to the upcoming Spring Festival of the Year of the Snake, but also allows the British audience to deeply feel the profound heritage and unique charm of Chinese traditional music. It is a milestone in the cultural exchanges between China and Britain.
2. Happy New Year for Snakes, Happy New Year
On January 29, 2025, the Confucius Institute at Leeds held two consecutive New Year celebrations for the Year of the Snake at the University of Leeds Business w88 casino. Julia Bennell, Dean of the University of Leeds Business w88 casino, Niall Hayes, Deputy Dean, Jonathan Winterton, Director of the International Department, and Adrian Stipetic, Head of the Confucius Classroom under the Leeds Confucius Institute attended the event; more than 130 people, including students from the Confucius Institute and teachers and students of the University of Leeds, attended the event.
Professor Song Jiwen, the foreign dean, delivers a speech
Julia Bennell (first from the right), Dean of Leeds University Business w88 casino, attended the event
Professor Song Jiwen, Foreign Director of the Leeds Confucius Institute, delivered an opening speech to welcome all guests. Zhang Lijun, a doctoral student from the w88 casino of Business, brought a wonderful guzheng performance to the audience, playing "Spring Festival Overture", "Flowers and Full Moon" and "Auld Lang Syne" and other pieces. The melody of the music was sometimes sonorous and sometimes beautiful, attracting continuous applause from the audience.
Guzheng performance
The on-site Spring Festival celebration kicked off with the tasting of dumplings. This traditional Chinese Spring Festival delicacy was a feast for everyone. Volunteer Chinese teachers from the Leeds Confucius Institute Chen Junyi, Yang Qingyuan and Ye Jing introduced the origin of the Chinese Spring Festival to the audience, as well as the customs of writing Spring Festival couplets and cutting window grilles. They taught everyone how to say "Happy New Year", "Good luck in the Year of the Snake", "All your wishes come true" and other Spring Festival greetings in Mandarin. They also interacted with the audience and held a Spring Festival knowledge competition. The atmosphere was lively.
Confucius Institute team photo
At the same time, the Confucius Institute at Leeds prepared steaming dumplings and snacks with Chinese characteristics for all the audience. While tasting the Spring Festival delicacies, the audience experienced Chinese paper-cutting and calligraphy under the guidance of Confucius Institute teachers and on-site Chinese guests, teachers and students, and created exquisite paper-cutting and calligraphy works.
Leeds University teachers and students experience paper-cutting
Participant shows Chinese translation
During the event, the Confucius Institute at Leeds also held the award ceremony of Leeds’ first Chinese Writing Competition, where awards were presented to the winners of the competition on site.
Foreign Dean Professor Song Jiwen and tutor Bai Yingying presented awards to the first prize winners of the junior group
3. The golden lion welcomes the spring and dances in the community
On February 1, 2025, the Leeds Confucius Institute and Leeds Lever Education Chinese w88 casino jointly held a wonderful Chinese New Year celebration of the Year of the Snake at the Merrion Center shopping mall in Leeds. The Mayor of Leeds, Abigail Marshall Cardone, attended the celebration, and Chinese community groups from all walks of life in Leeds gathered together to celebrate the Chinese Year of the Snake with local people through colorful performances and cultural experience activities. The celebration attracted many local Leeds people to the event to enjoy guzheng performances, watch lion dances and participate in Chinese cultural workshops.
In her speech, Ms. Abigail Marshall Cardone, Mayor of Leeds, congratulated the Chinese Year of the Snake on the Spring Festival and expressed her gratitude to the organizers for organizing the Spring Festival celebration. She emphasized the importance of the Chinese New Year celebration to the multicultural community of Leeds and expressed her appreciation for the Chinese New Year at the scene. People said: "Thank you very much for your contribution to this city, the warmth you bring, and everything you represent. I hope that while you celebrate your own festivals, you can also become the guardians of culture. Today, we celebrate the Chinese Lunar New Year together, and I hope every day of the New Year is filled with blessings."
The organizers organized Chinese Spring Festival cultural workshops and colorful cultural activities on the day of the celebration, including paper-cutting, calligraphy, traditional Chinese painting, guzheng performance, lion dance performance, children's singing performance and traditional Chinese costume show. At the same time, the Leeds Confucius Institute also set up a booth on site to introduce and promote Chinese learning to the audience.
The Mayor of Leeds takes a photo with the staff of the Confucius Institute
4. Colorful, spring-filled classroom
On February 6, 2025, Harrogate Grammar w88 casino, a Confucius Classroom affiliated with the Leeds Confucius Institute, took the opportunity of the Chinese Spring Festival to carefully organize and hold the "Chinese Language and Culture Activity Day". This event is open to the w88 casino’s seventh-grade students, with a total of 300 students. It aims to stimulate students’ interest in learning Chinese and Chinese culture, thereby encouraging them to continue to study Chinese in eighth grade.
Teachers and students try on Hanfu
On the day of the event, the team of the Leeds Confucius Institute at w88 casino carefully arranged a series of colorful Chinese cultural experience projects, including Chinese calligraphy and painting appreciation and creation, paper-cutting art, Hanfu trying-on experience, guzheng appreciation and interaction, and interesting Chinese experience classes, etc. The students felt the atmosphere of the Chinese Spring Festival and the charm of traditional Chinese art in the immersive cultural experience. At the same time, the Leeds Confucius Institute also invited guzheng teacher Zhang Lijun to perform classic traditional Chinese music, cleverly incorporating some Western music, and invited students to guess the name of the music, pushing the event to a climax in an entertaining and educational atmosphere.
That night, a colorful cultural performance brought the event to a successful conclusion. The performances included lion dance, acrobatic performances, and Chinese cultural quizzes, etc. The audience was immersed in a strong Chinese cultural atmosphere. It is worth mentioning that parents of students were also invited to participate in the activities with their children. They not only learned Chinese numerals, but also tasted authentic Chinese food and shared this feast of Chinese culture with their children.
Party scene
Harrogate Grammar w88 casino is a well-known private secondary w88 casino in the Harrogate area. It has been a Confucius Classroom affiliated with the Leeds Confucius Institute since 2015. With the support of the Leeds Confucius Institute, the w88 casino has long provided a variety of Chinese courses to its own students, students from surrounding schools and adults in the local community. Students not only have the opportunity to take the Primary and Secondary Chinese Test (YCT), but also challenge the General Certificate of Secondary Education (GCSE) Chinese exam after improving their language skills, laying a solid foundation for future academic and career development.
5. Lanterns for the Year of the Snake to welcome the Lantern Festival
On February 11, 2025, the Confucius Institute at Leeds was invited to go to Benton Park w88 casino in Leeds to bring a cultural experience class about the Chinese Lantern Festival to the w88 casino’s seventh grade students. This activity allowed students to immerse themselves in the charm of traditional Chinese culture through rich interactive links.
Volunteer teacher Yang Qingyuan takes a photo with students
At the beginning of the event, Teacher Yang Qingyuan, a Chinese volunteer at the Confucius Institute at Leeds, quickly attracted the attention of the students with his interesting quizzes. In a relaxed and pleasant atmosphere, the students not only experienced the traditional custom of the Lantern Festival - guessing lantern riddles, but also learned about the history and cultural connotation of the Lantern Festival. In order to increase the interactivity of the experience class, Teacher Yang also set up a guessing competition and prepared exquisite Chinese-style bookmarks as rewards for the students who answered correctly the fastest. Students actively participated and the classroom atmosphere was lively.
Public teacher Bai Yingying takes photos with students
Afterwards, teacher Bai Yingying from the Leeds Confucius Institute led the students to make Chinese lanterns. Under the guidance of Teacher Bai, the students carefully designed and made their own lanterns while learning the symbolic meaning of color and shape in lantern design. Red represents joy, the circle symbolizes reunion, and the tassels symbolize good luck. The students gave full play to their creativity and made lanterns with bright colors and unique characteristics. Some students also wrote Chinese characters on the lanterns, showing their love for Chinese culture.
After the activity, the students not only had a deeper understanding of the traditional customs of the Lantern Festival, but also took home handmade lanterns as precious mementos of this cultural experience. Many students said that this was their first time to have such close contact with Chinese culture. Not only did they feel the fun and wisdom, but it also inspired their interest in learning Chinese. They looked forward to having more opportunities to learn more about China and Chinese culture in the future.
