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Celebrating the Year of the Tiger in London
24 February 2010
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ucl.ac.uk/global/china/" target="_self">UCL Global: China
Cecily Liu, an undergraduate at UCL English, describes how students from China are celebrating the Year of the Tiger in London this month.
"Chinese New Year is the grandest and most sacred festival in Chinese culture. It is traditionally the time of reunion with family,
celebrated by members of the family eating a feast together.
For international students it bears even more significance as that separation from family during terms makes this reunion more appreciated. In most years, it is conventional to call each overseas family member from the UK to wish them happy new year, but this year, because it coincides with reading week, a large number of Chinese students have decided to return for the week, to celebrate the festival with family.
Festival preparations
Due to the large community of Chinese international students at UCL, we organised a Chinese Cultural Day on 5February, prior to the Chinese New Year, to celebrate it together and at the same time to share our culture and traditions with other members of the UCL community.
On this day, we set up stores selling cultural food, red paper cuttings, spring couplets, and other decorations. We enabled students to experience Chinese culture by dressing up in traditional costume and learning to write spring couplets of good wishes using brush and ink, an activity which is done by Chinese people in anticipation of the festival.
Some of our students gave a performance of the dragon dance, which is conventionally performed to enliven the atmosphere. This event was successful in sharing Chinese culture for those less familiar with it as well as helping Chinese students to feel the spirit of the festival away from home.
The day itself
On Chinese New Year day, students who did not return to China gathered with their friends for dinner. Dumpling is the traditional festival food, the preparing of which is popular at parties because the process is difficult and involves a large number of people, but also because it brings students together to cooperate in an activity related to the festival.
Another common activity is watching the Annual Chinese New Year Festival Show on television. It goes on for about four hours gathering and linking the best dances, songs, plays and current affairs of that particular year together into a national show that allows the entire country to together anticipate the coming of a new year. For London students this is particularly important because through watching this show, they feel as if they are spiritually united with their family and country, so generally they choose to watch it together at parties online.
Home from home
Chinese New Year parties in London are generally long,
conventionally starting from midday to late at night. Chinese students also
have the opportunity to invite western friends and explain the festival to
them.
Such invitations are a popular way to demonstrate appreciation for their mutual friendship because of the significance of Chinese New Year to Chinese students. And because most of these parties are held in UCL halls, it is also fun to offer food to students walking through this common area, because it stimulates the atmosphere of the celebration.
Although Chinese New Year is a time of joy, celebrating it
in London inevitably highlights an element of sadness because it draws
students' attention towards the fact that they are away from home. Calling
members of family and friends has been an essential but difficult activity
because undoubtedly we all wish to be with them at this very moment.
This is why at this crucial festival Chinese students choose to come together and support each other, creating a home away from home. And for this reason Chinese New Year celebration is also an important event to strengthen the friendship between Chinese international students."
Images: Performing the dragon dance and sharing Chinese food in the South Cloisters on Chinese Cultural Day
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