TAG-Confucius Institute Holds Chinese Spring Festival Cultural Event at Mashrek International School

On February 4, TAG-Confucius Institute (TAG-CI) and China Cultural Center in Amman jointly held the Chinese Spring Festival (also known as Chinese New Year) cultural event at Mashrek International School, in the presence of Ms. Shi Wei, Cultural Counsellor of Chinese Embassy in Jordan and Director of China Cultural Center in Amman, Ms. Haneen Elayyan, head of middle school department of Mashrek International School, Dr. Yang Songfang, Chinese Director of TAG-CI, Ms. Randa Al-Yabroudi, Deputy Director of TAG-CI. Teachers from TAG-CI and China Cultural Center and more than 140 people including middle school students and teachers from Mashrek International School participated in the event. Xinhua News Agency and China Media Group (CMG) reported the event.
The event venue was decorated with the Spring Festival couplets, “Fu” (happiness) characters, red lanterns, Chinese dragons, Chinese knots, atmosphere lights and others, filled with a strong Chinese festival atmosphere.
At the opening ceremony, Haneen Elayyan expressed her welcome and gratitude to TAG-CI and China Cultural Center for bringing diverse Chinese cultural activities to the middle school students on the occasion of Chinese New Year and they felt honored to have the opportunity to experience Chinese culture again and celebrated Chinese New Year of the Dragon together.
Shi Wei said in her speech that this event would enable the students to have a better understanding of Chinese festival culture and traditions and enhance traditional friendship between China and Jordan. She introduced that the Spring Festival is the most important traditional festival for Chinese people, marking the beginning of the Chinese Lunar New Year. During the Spring Festival, the whole family get together to eat reunion meals and dumplings, Chinese people attach great importance to family reunion and warmth, which is equally important for Jordanians. She also said that the year 2024 is the Year of the Dragon, one of the twelve Chinese zodiac signs, and the dragon is a symbol of auspiciousness, dignity, justice and prosperity in Chinese culture. She extended good wishes to all the people present and wished for world peace and stability.

Then, the teachers and students watched the animated promotional video of the 2024 Spring Festival Gala of CMG “Watching the Spring Festival Gala to welcome the Year of the Dragon”. The twelve lovable Chinese zodiac animals Fuwa and Chinese people were welcoming the Year of the Dragon. Afterwards, they enjoyed the Yangge dance “Celebrating the Chinese New Year with Joy” performed by the Chinese teachers from TAG-CI. They were amazed by the cheerful melody of the dance and the beautiful dance movements of the teachers, expressing their love for the dance with applause.
Next, the students were divided into several groups to experience various cultural activities, including handicrafts, calligraphy, tea ceremony, games, dragon dance and lion dance. In the handicraft section, students learned to weave Chinese knots, paint New Year paintings, and make palace lanterns from the teachers. They were really delighted when seeing their own works. In the calligraphy section, the students learned to write calligraphy with brushes under the guidance of the teacher. They were amazed by the charm of Chinese calligraphy, and everyone received a Chinese name written by the teacher. In the tea ceremony section, the students listened to the teacher introducing the brewing methods of different types of tea and tasted Pu’er tea, Jin Junmei black tea, and West Lake Longjing green tea. In the game activities, every student was enthusiastic and actively participated in the pitch-pot (also known as Tou Hu) game. The winners received pens, books, handbags, and other items with Chinese characteristics. Pitch-pot is a traditional Chinese game that requires players to throw arrows from a set distance into a large canister. This type of entertainment activity was commonly seen in Song Dynasty banquets. The students also experienced dragon dance and lion dance which symbolize unity, friendship, auspiciousness, and good luck. The venue was filled with laughter and joy of the students.
This event not only made the students and teachers understand the joy and peace of the Spring Festival, China’s grandest festival, but also provided them with an opportunity to get close to Chinese culture, furthermore, to understand extraordinary China and the positive Chinese spirit.  We hope that the Year of the Dragon will bring fortune to everyone and peace, harmony and security to the world.