Chinese New Year 2022

News - Feb 24

During the last week of half term, Mandarin students at Colyton Grammar School were busy celebrating Chinese New Year. The highlight was a trip to St. Gregory's Catholic College in Bath, where 180 students joined from across four Mandarin Excellence Programme schools to celebrate this most significant Chinese festival. It was a day packed with tradition and fun! The day started by seeing students confidently conversing in Mandarin to get to know their peers from other schools before eliciting a great level of competitiveness from everyone with a quiz on the Chinese New Year. Some of our students won lovely pen brushes and red lanterns with their comprehensive knowledge about the country’s culture. After finishing making a cute origami tiger to celebrate the horoscope of 2022, the students moved outside to play Chinese shuttlecock. Everyone tried to keep the shuttlecock up in the air for longer than their last try and it required great determination as it was very tricky to do so in the strong wind. The most exciting event for all was participating in the lion dance workshop run by a group of professional lion dancers. It required great concentration, physical skills and persistence, but our students delivered great results. As the shoulders and arms of the person holding the lion’s head high in the air trembled with the weight, the person playing the tail fought against tiredness and pain by keeping their back bent and their steps in line with the head. They were, however, determined to make it work and team spirit shone through! The two-week long New Chinese Celebration is coming to an end as the Lantern Festival draws closer and we want to take this opportunity to wish you all 虎年大吉[hǔ nián dà jí ] ‑ great luck for the Year of the Tiger! 

Mandarin