Chinese New Year or Spring Festival is the festival that celebrates the beginning of a new year on the traditional Chinese Lunar Calendar. On the 10th of February, the Chinese said goodbye to the Year of the Rabbit 2023 and welcomed the Year of the Dragon 2024. The Chinese New Year, Folk Culture Festival 2024 Organized by the Confucius Institute of Kelaniya University in conjunction with the Chinese Spring Festival was held in Dharmaloka Hall on the 06th of February 2024. The main purpose of this event was to give a live experience of the Chinese Spring Festival. More than 150, University Undergraduates and more than 100 Students from schools teaching the Chinese language participated in this event.
This Program was shaped by the beautiful dance, singing, drama elements, and Wushu performance of the University Students and School Students for almost three hours. The Dean of the Faculty of Humanities at the University of Kelaniya, Mr. Sudath Senarath, and the Head of the Department of Modern Languages at the University of Kelaniya, Ven. Prof. Nadalagamuwe Dhammadinna Thero was invited as the Chief guests. The program consisted of three sessions. After the Welcome speech of Co-Directors, Dr.Wu Hongyuan and Dr. Jani Samarakoon, the Chief Guest Ven. Prof. Nadalagamuwe Dhammadinna Thero was been invited to address the audience. Later Ms. Zhu Lin, a lecturer at the Confucius Institute gave a valuable lecture on the origin of the Chinese Spring Festival, its customs, and the celebration activities of the Chinese Spring Festival. As a very special part of the event, the students were allowed to learn how to make dumplings. The invited Chef, Ms. Yang, the Chinese lecturer Ms. Zhu Lin, and Dr. Jani Samarakoon taught to students the steps to make and wrap the dumplings according to the proper way.
In the Second session, while dumplings were steaming, students who participated in this event got the opportunity to practically learn Chinese paper-cutting art, and Chinese ancient calligraphy under the guidance of the Volunteer Chinese lecturers and local lecturers of the Confucius Institute and the Department of Modern Languages. Also, there were so many other fun games and a Raffle Draw for the students to participate in, and could be able to win gifts and money prizes with red envelopes.
The third session of the Program started at 2.00 P.M. The Chief Guest, Dr. Sudath Senerath delivered the speech. Next, the audience got the chance to taste delicious Chinese cultural foods including dumplings while watching the Cultural Entertainment events. The students of the Weekend Certificate Courses in Chinese Language conducted by the Confucius Institute at UOK, the School Students along with the University undergraduates showed their mesmerizing talents on the stage.
In conclusion, the staff and lecturers of the Confucius Institute, the lecturers of the Department of Modern Languages, and the University students worked hard to organize this event. Furthermore, this day was a great opportunity for both University Students and School Students to share their experiences, and a valuable opportunity to reflect on how important the China – Sri Lanka friendship is for the Education and the Cultural Exchange.
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