Celebration of 2018 Chinese New Year At the Confucius Institute at the University of Ghana
On February 8th, the Celebration of 2018 Chinese New Year, sponsored by Confucius Institute Headquarters/Hanban, hosted by Confucius Institute at the University of Ghana, co-hosted by Zhejiang University of Technology and University of Ghana Basic Schools, was held at the University of Ghana Basic Schools. This is an annual ceremony to mark the Chinese (Lunar) New Year.
The Chinese Ambassador to Ghana H.E Madam Sun Baohong, the Representative of Pro Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana, Prof. Samuel Kwame Offei, and the president of Ghana-China Friendship Association, former Ghanaian Ambassador to China H.E. Gottfred Amoo were present as our special guests for the occasion and delivered their speech. Meanwhile, there were about 3500 other guests including the headmasters and students from the various Confucius Institute teaching sites, and the leaders from the Chinese associations and Chinese chambers of commerce and others from the general public.
Ambassador Sun sent the New Year greetings to all the guests and expressed her expectation for this Spring Festival Celebration. Prof. Samuel Kwame Offei, Pro Vice-Chancellor of the University of Ghana, welcomed the gathering and thanked for this unique opportunity to enjoy, learn and experience Chinese culture. He also expressed his best wishes to the Chinese Embassy, the Confucius Institute, the various Chinese Chambers of Commerce as well as everybody present.
Together with the addresses there were wonderful performances in the opening ceremony. There was traditional Chinese dragon and lion dance, Chinese martial arts, Chinese classic dance, and traditional Chinese instrument performances such as Ocarina (Taodi) and Guzheng. There is also “Bianlian” (changing face) an ancient traditional opera in Sichuan Province in China. Some of the performances were done by the students of the Institute, others were done by the delegation from Zhejiang University of Technology, Chinese co-host of the Institute. All were very beautiful and exciting. The audiences were deeply impressed.
After the opening ceremony, the Confucius Institute organized a food fair and a Chinese cultural display. Here people enjoyed Chinese paper-cutting, Chinese knot-tying, Peking opera facial makeup painting, Chinese dumpling-making, Chinese tea art, and Tanghulu (sugar coated hawthorns).
