Spring Festival at BSTU

Amid the Chinese New Year festivities, the BSTU Centre for Chinese Language and Culture celebrated the Spring Festival by bringing together high school students and Chinese language learners.
Chinese New Year, also called Lunar New Year begins with the new moon that occurs sometime between January 21 and February 20 according to Western calendars. Festivities last until the following full moon or February 5 of this year. In Chinese Astrology, 2023 is the Year of the Water Rabbit, also known as the Year of the Black Rabbit. The Chinese New Year holiday comes to its climax with the Lantern Festival. The many activities include moon gazing, lighting lanterns, riddles, dragon dances, lion dances and eating rice balls.
The workshop attendees had the opportunity to get acquainted with these and many other traditions of celebrating the Chinese New Year through such lively activities as interactive quiz “Discover China”, traditional paper cutting, Guo Hua painting. The workshop sessions were led by teachers of the BNTU Confucius Institute for Science and Technology.
Guo Hua painting, one of the oldest artistic traditions in the world, aroused keen interest of students. The materials used in Chinese Guo Hua painting are brush and ink on paper or silk. Once on paper, ink brushstrokes cannot be erased or corrected, so a painter must have a complete concept of the painting before the artwork begins. Traditional painting is done with a brush dipped in black ink or colored pigments; oils are not used. The finished work can be mounted on scrolls, such as hanging scrolls or handscrolls.