North Wales, has had the largest Welsh Language School, named Friars, since 1557. The Confucius Institute at Bangor University has been in contact with the School since its establishment. Now, there are three teaching classes for Chinese language at Friars. On February 3, 2014, Chinese Spring Festival Celebrations were held at Friars by the Confucius Institute. At the beginning of the celebrations, Mr. Chris Parry, headmaster of the grade and mathematics, introduced faculties from the Confucius Institute to students. When he asked a question about what year it was for the Chinese Lunar Year of 2014, many students raised their hands and gave the right answer, that is, the year of the Horse.

At first, Prof. Zhang Liying, co-director of the Confucius Institute, introduced Chinese Spring Festival to students. She asked students to show different gestures of Chinese New Year greeting-giving to boys and girls respectively when mentioning Chinese New Year greetings. When it came to couplets, students were asked to place couplets in the right position. As for eating dumplings, there was a game for students to play with chopsticks. Speaking of the Lantern Festival, students were invited to participate in a competition of lantern-making making lanterns. The atmosphere was lively due to the students’ participation.

Then, students were divided into two groups. One group learnt Chinese music and Tai Chi Fan from Ms. Zhihui Li. After learning to sing a popular Chinese folk song called “Mo Li Hua” (“Jasmine Flower”), that familiar melody could be heard being hummed by students in the schools corridors afterwards. Tai Chi Fan was also very popular with students, making them feel like kungfu masters. They were eager to have a try on the stage and took every move and gesture seriously.

The other group of students learnt calligraphy and Peking Opera from Ms. Meng Yu. Students who had learnt some Chinese wrote calligraphy with ease. As for Peking Opera, Ms. Meng Yu elaborately explained each Peking Opera mask had a different meaning . Students were asked to put on a mask and name the mask color in Chinese, and also play games. They also painted different masks using different colors to represent different meanings.

Ms. Cath, who contacted the Confucius Institute about the celebrations, said it was very interesting and funny. According to her, a boy, who seldom participates in any activity , surprisingly participated in all the activities. What shocked others more was the fact that he was the first one to volunteer and get on the stage for trying Tai Chi. At the end of the activities, Ms. Cath wrote a letter to the Confucius institute writing: What a fantastic morning of Chinese culture!!!! It was just wonderful. The pupils really enjoyed themselves and I hope our lovely Chinese teachers arrived safely back at The Institute. I can’t thank you enough for providing us with this opportunity. Definitely we want to get involved next year and do it on a larger scale, and now we know what is involved.

When Mr. Chris Parry asked a question about what was the year of Chinese Lunar Year of 2014, many students raised their hands and gave the right answer, that it is, the year of the Horse.

Prof. Zhang Liying, introduced Chinese Spring Festival to students. The atmosphere was lively due to the students’ participation.

Students learnt Tai Chi Fan from Ms. Zhihui Li. They took every move and gesture seriously.

For students who had learnt some Chinese, they wrote calligraphy with ease.

Students were asked to put on a mask and name the mask color in Chinese, and also play games.

Students creatively painted different masks according to different colors representing different meanings.

A male student, who seldom participates in any activity , actively participated in all the activities, surprising his teacher

At the end of the activities, students were awarded a certificate by faculties from the Confucius Institute.