On Sunday 29^th January 2023, the Lancaster University Confucius Institute team ran a Chinese arts and crafts stall in Lancaster city centre as part of the Chinese New Year celebrations organised by Popber, a non-profit social platform to help local businesses in Lancaster.

On the stall, there were activities for all the family, including paper cutting for the year of the rabbit and calligraphy. Throughout the day, lots of members of the community came to the stall to try the activities and chat to the team.

Opposite the stall, was the main stage of performances to celebrate Chinese New Year. The children that attend the CI’s Lancaster Chinese weekend classes and children from Confucius Classroom at Anchorsholme Academy, performed two New Year songs in Chinese for the crowd and were dressed for the occasion. Additionally, one of our teachers, Leo Zhenglang Chen, took to the stage to perform a Chinese fan dance, which was very well received.

The Lancaster University Confucius Institute team also attended the Chinese New Year variety show at the Lancaster Grand Theatre on Thursday evening, which was also organised by Popber. The show had a variety of performances that showed the local community different elements of Chinese culture.