South Ural Association of International Students and Alumni has come up with a series of educational events on the occasion of the Chinese New Year.
One of the events was a master class on making Chinese lanterns. It was held by student Ruxue Wang. It was also a chance to practice her knowledge of the Russian language.
"We were celebrating the epic holiday taking place in China, where people are seeing off the New Year now. This is similar of our Old New Year. On this day a great number of Chinese people hang lanterns, which vary in their form. The main thing is that these must be of red and yellow colours. People also cook different tasty dishes, including rice-balls dessert," explained member of the teaching staff Valeriia Samko.
So, why namely red and yellow colours? It is simple: the red colour wards off evil spirits and symbolizes wellbeing, while the yellow colour attracts wealth, which everyone wishes to bring to their home.
Lanterns are ready. What to do next? Usually, people in China hang those near their homes or decorate alleys with them. And also... they launch them to the sky! And be sure to make a wish before that. Wishes made on this day definitely come true!
Besides international students, the festive master class was also attended by the first-year students of the Lingatech Centre for Continuing Education. They sang a song in Chinese to demonstrate the knowledge they had gained.
"Our teacher shared that we would be participating in the festivities on the occasion of the Chinese New Year. Together with my group mates we sang a song and also learned how to make Chinese lanterns. We really enjoyed that!" said the course student Vladislav Varin.
Students are invited to participate in the closing event: "Let's Be Friends" Chinese board game (Student Centre at Lenin Prospekt 80, on February 14th at 14:00).