Before the 2016 Spring Festival, the Confucius Institutes of Queen Mary University of London (QMUL) and Tallinn held various activities to celebrate the Chinese New Year.
On February 1st, a music concert was held in the Octagon Auditorium of QMUL to celebrate the festival.
With the theme of “combining art with technology”, the concert enhanced the blending of Eastern and Western music, while also bringing elements of technology, innovation and interaction into a traditional performance.
The following distinguished guests attended the concert along with an audience of 200 members from various fields in London:
Chinese Embassy in London: Mr Shen Yang, Minister Counsellor for Education, First Secretary Shi Lei, Second Secretary Feng Zhi
QMUL Leaders: Principal Simon Gaskell, Prof. Wang Wen, Dean for Research (Faculty of Science & Engineering)
Confucius Institute: Prof. Zou Ping, Prof. Kathryn Richardson
The traditional Chinese music presented in the concert received great admiration from the audience. Gu Miao, Chairperson of the All-China Students Federation, made a speech in which she said that the cooperation between Britain and China was the inspiration for [Please check the meaning is correct – the original meaning was too unclear for me to be certain.]combining technology with art in the concert. Simon Gaskell, the principal of QMUL delivered a speech in which he expressed his appreciation for the devotion the Confucius Institute and the All-China Students Federation had shown towards the development of the university and the cooperation between the UK and China. He said that the establishment of the Confucius Institute marked a new stage in the cooperation between SUFE and QMUL.
On February 8th, the Spring Festival Celebration Gala organized by Tallinn Confucius Institute was held at Astra Frous in Tallinn University, Estonia. Attending the gala were: Lin Hang, Minister Counselor for Political Affairs at the Chinese Embassy in Estonia, and directors from the Economic and Commercial Counselor’s Office; leaders from Tallinn University Prof. Priit Reiska, Vice Rector for Academic Affairs, and directors from the School of Humanities; Chinese Students from Tallinn University and Tallinn University of Technology; and students from the Tallinn Confucius Institute.
Students from the Tallinn Confucius Institute presented a guitar performance, a flute solo and fan dancing. A lullaby singing performance in Chinese and Estonian filled the gala with an Estonian atmosphere. Following this, a traditional dragon dance brought motionless bodies to life as the team manipulated the flexible figure of the dragon to perform a variety of movements, winning enthusiastic applause from the audience. Students who participated for the first time in Chinese Bridge also gave excellent performances; among them were two students who had won scholarships to study in China.
Lion Dancing was saved for the last performance. Two lions, one golden, one red, appeared on the stage. each played by one performer. In their costumes, the performers each mimicked the movements of a lion, crawling and jumping and playing together with a ball. The king of the jungle was more like a big cat at home. After the performance, all the students gathered to have their picture taken with the furry lion.
