January 18, 2012
Chinese New Year Celebrations are a 16-year tradition at YCIS Beijing. While the activities have changed over the school’s history, it still remains a highly anticipated event for students, teachers, parents, and the community.
In the week prior to the Chinese New Year, students and teachers began by ornamenting doors and hallways with proverbs of fortune and auspicious orange trees.
On January 18, the doors of YCIS Beijing Temple Fair opened as parents and students streamed into the auditorium and gymnasium amidst traditional Chinese performers. There was an open-air market feeling of a traditional temple fair despite the creature comforts of heat to escape the bitter Beijing cold. The shows at Temple Fair featured tradition songs, dances, martial arts, and a hallmark dragon dance.
YCIS Beijing Secondary students had prepared games and local vendors were sourced to sell traditional crafts and confectionaries. The World of Chinese Magazine provided a Chinese mask painting station that was wildly popular. A live dragon dance wowed audiences who snapped photographs and posed for pictures after the performance.
The day was truly a school-wide celebration. It was a good excitement as students prepared for the real start of Chinese New Year on February 4, 2012.
