Cardiff’s Chinese community celebrates the New Year at Central Library.
Members of the community of all ages came together for a day of free activities at the library to commemorate the Year of the Snake. The event, organised by the Cardiff Confucius Institute, provided a lively blend of contemporary and traditional cultural events, including a traditional lion dance.
Cardiff musician Xiaoyue, 27, a volunteer of Confucius Institute, played a musical instrument called a guzheng. It was the first time for her to perform in Cardiff and for some people to hear this unique instrument.
Xiaoyue said she felt incredibly honoured to play in the library and was moved by the audience’s enthusiastic response, “At first I was nervous, but people are really friendly and they are in a good atmosphere, then I felt relaxed and just enjoyed my music.”
Year of the Snake
A variety of interactive activities that examined different cultural customs associated with the Year of the Snake were also available to attendees. This included paper cutting, lion dancing and a demonstration of Tachi, a martial art which is popular in China.
Jocelyn Spittle, a Mandarin language teacher at Cardiff’s Confucius Institute said she was glad to join in this event in her first year at Cardiff University. “The Confucius school aims to promote Chinese culture and Chinese language. And events like this give us a wonderful opportunity to showcase all of these Chinese activities. “
There are around five thousand Chinese people currently living in Cardiff. Those who attended said these celebrations strengthened their sense of community, while providing a rich cultural experience for other local residents.
This celebration of the Year of the Snake is something they will never forget.