Celebrating Chinese New Year

2023 marks the Year of the Rabbit in the Chinese Lunar Calendar.

Community and family are central ideas during Chinese New Year, and this is reflected in the students who took part in preparing and performing. Since we’re all away from home and family, we cherish the friendships we have among our peers even more.

Just as Chinese New Year is celebrated in different parts of Asia, students of other nationalities took part in the celebration as well. Victoria Ko from Indonesia sang a moving rendition of the Chinese cover of the classic song by Coldplay – Yellow – accompanied by her sister Nicola’s moving piano playing; while Alex Kim from South Korea stunned with his amazing beatbox skills. The Chinese New Year celebration at Lancing not only celebrates Chinese culture within our school, but also the rich ethnic diversity within the Lancing community.

From dance to song, the entertainment of the evening simply captivated the audience. Our three dance performances showed the evolution of dance in China: Sammy Zhang and Linda Yang both performed traditional dances with graceful and fluid movements, while Megan Tang, Kaydence Lai, Ally Tam and Gigi Kwan electrified the hall with their energetic pop dancing, reminiscent of the vigour of K-pop choreography.

So much of celebrating Chinese New Year in the 21st Century is about honouring the past: it’s a blend of heritage and modernity, and that was certainly displayed in the programme for the night. Drew Zhu performed a classical piece with the Hulusi, also known as the cucurbit flute, the origin of which could be traced back to 221BCE. Claire Wang and Jack Zhang, on the other hand, chose popular contemporary songs to sing, the latter enjoying great audience engagement. Both voices were emotive and gave us stirring performances.

Apart from the performers, students also enthusiastically took part backstage. They had great fun making traditional decorations such as Chinese paper cuttings as well as Fai Chun, Spring couplets with new-year-blessings written out on red paper. They were used to decorate the Dining Hall, and the result was an amusing mixture of British and Chinese aesthetics.

Last but not least, the catering team delighted staff and students alike with their delectable variety of Chinese dishes, both sweet and savoury. There was Peking duck, spring rolls, egg fried rice, mandarin oranges for dessert, and of course, fortune cookies (which aren’t actually Chinese in origin, but that’s another story). The Chinese New Year celebration is a wonderful tradition in Lancing, and we hope it continues for years to come.