Last week we ushered in the Year of the Ox with the Chinese New Year Culture Week at Wellington College Tianjin. Teachers and pupils celebrated this yearly tradition with various activities, including the Chinese New Year shows from the Nest, Junior and Senior School. What amazing performances they were.

The "Chinese New Year Door Decoration" competition kicked off the week. Pupils and teachers decorated their classroom doors artistically with peach blossoms made from coloured paper, red packets, Chun Lian, and other Chinese elements.

The pupils also enjoyed the "How much do you know about Chinese Culture" house competition. Both in the Junior School and Senior School, the competition was fierce among the five houses. In the final round of the Senior School competition, two houses even drew with each other three times in a row before one of them finally won with the last question and ended this exciting competition. On the traditional costume day, many pupils dressed in traditional Chinese costumes and enjoyed the celebration of Chinese New Year.

The three Chinese New Year shows from the Nest, Junior School and Senior School were certainly the highlight of the week. The beautiful singing, well-rehearsed dances and speeches performed by the children won applause again and again.

The show from the Senior School took us on a journey through the ancient and modern times, from China to the world. The folk music "Spring Festival Overture" immediately drew us into the atmosphere of the Chinese New Year. Along with the beating drums, flutes, erhu, pipa and other musical instruments the staccato sound of the zither attracted all of the audience. Even the pupils who were not familiar with traditional Chinese music listened with fascination. The performance of the traditional Chinese performing art, Pingshu "Wu Song Da Hu", was particularly attractive to the pupils. While other singing and dancing performances were either modern or traditional, all the performances earned cheers and applause from the audience.