On March the 5th the UQ Confucius Institute (UQ CI) in collaboration with UQ Life organised a large-scale event to celebrate Chinese New Year for students, staff and the broader community.
The Spring Festival event, comprised of a workshop facilitated by UQ CI on dumpling making, called jiaozi in mandarin Chinese. Hundreds gathered to watch as four teachers from UQ CI prepared and boiled the dumplings. Once ready to eat, the dumplings were then handed out to the audience.
Food trucks consisting of delicacies from around China and the region were available to eat, including traditional Chinese fried beef skewers, as well as Shanghai and southern Chinese cuisine. A live band played contemporary Chinese music. The ever-popular Lion Dancers returned to UQ for another spectacular performance, which added to the already festive atmosphere.
Later that evening, an elaborate Lantern Parade was held. Participants had prepared hundreds of lanterns for the parade, including Chinese zodiac calendar animals, designed by award-winning Australian artist, Jyllie Jackson.
Deputy Vice-Chancellor (Academic) Professor Joanne Wright said the inaugural UQ Lantern Parade was part of a campaign to celebrate and reinforce UQ’s commitment to safety on campus. The night-time parade encouraged also new and existing students and the broader community to familiarise and surprise themselves with the St Lucia campus in a visual, bright and novel way.
“The University community has worked diligently to ensure its campuses are safe and inclusive,” Professor Wright said.
“Our safety program has been developed and strengthened to improve safety for all who come here.
“We want our students to be able to focus on their studies and enjoy everything UQ campuses have to offer.”
Professor Wright said UQ had several initiatives to help keep safe on campus, including the UQSafeZone app, safety escorts, emergency call points and CCTV cameras.
Over 2000 people participated in the event at The University of Queensland.
“We are very pleased with the outcome of this activity at UQ,” UQ Confucius Institute Director Professor Ping Chen said.
“The number of people who attended was beyond all expectation,” Professor Chen added.
The Confucius Institute at UQ, among its core goals, provides Chinese language and culture activities to the UQ and broader community. UQ CI was honoured to be able to contribute to such a large-scale and high-impact event. For more information about future activities please visit the website.
