Foreign teachers and students experience Chinese New Year in Guangzhou

Chinese New Year is approaching, and the festive atmosphere in Guangzhou is getting stronger.  Many foreign teachers and students from all over the world chose to stay in Guangzhou for Chinese New Year due to the pandemic.

The Chinese Culture Day held by the American International School of Guangzhou every year before Chinese New Year has become an important bridge for teachers and students of the school to experience Chinese culture. This year, the school held a Chinese New Year themed activity of "Exploring the Legacy of China".

Nearly 200 foreign teachers and students performed Peking Opera, fan dance, shadow play, lion dance and other programs. In addition, the students also participated in special activities such as red envelope design and Spring Festival couplet writing to experience Chinese New Year customs.Kevin Baker, principal of the school, said,“As an international school, we think that it's so important if we learn about each other’s cultures, then we can find our common grounds in the places of partnership. So, we can build bridges and learn from each other and celebrate each other’s traditions and special moments like Chinese New Year.”

Parita Frater, a grade two student said after the performance,“I can appreciate the people around me because I have been in China for a year, and I get to learn more and more about China's history.”

In addition, various schools for foreigners in Guangzhou have also held special Chinese New Year's activities, so that foreign teachers and students can experience and understand more about Chinese traditional culture, Lingnan culture and Cantonese culture.

For example, ISA Tianhe International School and Britannia International School held activities such as garden tours and lion dances, and Utahloy International School Zengcheng held special food tasting activities during the Spring Festival, so that foreign teachers and students can experience the Chinese culture in different ways.

At present, there are nearly 1,500 foreign teachers and nearly 9,000 international students in Guangzhou. During the New Year's Day and Spring Festival holidays in 2022, the Guangzhou Education Bureau helped foreign teachers and students to make reasonable holiday travel plans, and to prevent and control the epidemic on campus during the holidays, so that foreign teachers and students in Guangzhou could spend a happy and healthy Chinese New Year.