24 January 2012
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BU sees in Chinese New Year in Dylans Bar with many celebratory games and performances. |
BU kicked off Chinese New Year last night with an explosive Dragon dance, bamboo rapping (of the vocal, not physical kind), traditional flute music, fashion shows, malteaser games and bamboo art and other celebratory games and performances.
Dylans Bar was packed with Chinese, and English of all generations, from babies to grandparents, with the party hosted both in English and Chinese for all linguists to understand.
The celebrations marked the beginning of the year of the water dragon, and was organised by Chinese Student and Scholar Association and Oriental Culture and Education Society.
VIP guests included Ms Zhu Li from the Chinese Embassy, the Mayor and Mayoress of Bournemouth and Poole, Councillor and the Mayor and Mayoress of Poole, Mrs Denise Wooten representing the chairperson of the Dorset healthcase University NHS foundation trust.
Yuging Cheng, member of the CSSA currently studying for a Msc in Computer Animation and Visual Effects, said before her fashion show at the event yesterday:
“I think Chinese New Years eve is much more important than New years day, much like Christmas eve here, people come back from all over the world and to their hometowns especially to see their grandparents, people leave small towns to make money, so it’s the only time they can go home and spend time with their family.”
Yuging, or Chi Chi as she is better known by her friends, says she prefers celebrating in her University town of Bournemouth, than at home in mainland China:
“It’s quite different to spend it in UK or home town, when in china I spend festival with family members and here I spend with friends, and here we have party with young people so its much more exciting.”
Alan Mercel-Sanca, OCES Chairperson who helped organise the event said a party of this scale had not been organised before at BU:
“We haven’t done anything like this on this scale before, but tonight has gone extremely, I am extremely pleased. Only a small section of the Chinese community at BU are present tonight, but they are very lovely and outgoing representatives of the wider Chinese community.”
The Mayor and Mayoresses of Poole and Bournemouth were present, who enjoyed participating in games such as transferring as many malteasers as possible using only chopsticks from one bowl to another, and painting lanterns with bamboo.
The Mayor of Poole, Graham Wilson said of the importance of celebrating Chinese New Year in Bournemouth and Poole:
“It breeds community cohesian and understanding culture in our lovely conurbations.”
A video featuring some of the activities from the evening can be seen below.
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