Expatriates celebrate Chinese Lantern Festival
Expatriates learnt traditional activities including making Chinese dim sum as well as paper-tearing art and dough art on Saturday.
The celebration of the Chinese Lantern Festival was held at the Shanghai Mass Art Center in Xuhui District.
Families learn how to make a panda-shaped dough figurine on Saturday.
More than 60 expats and their family members took part in the celebration, organized by Shanghai People’s Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries and a non-profit organization supported by local government called The Expatriate Center.
Three performers from the Shanghai Chinese Orchestra played popular music, including “Pearl Curtain Rolled Up” by Chinese singer Huo Zun, and “Mojito” by Chinese singer Jay Chou, with traditional Chinese musical instruments — suona, huqin and pipa — at the beginning of the celebration.
The combination of the old and new led to much dancing and clapping.
Children dance to music played with classic Chinese musical instruments on Saturday at the Shanghai Mass Art Center.
“We use the fusion way to present classical Chinese musical instruments so it resonated with expat groups and locals,” said Linda Painan, chairwoman for The Expatriate Center.
After enjoying the music and the exhibition about Chinese New Year customs and heritage paper art projects, people visited the DIY workshops in the center.
They made rabbit-shaped tangyuan (glutinous rice balls with sweet or salty fillings), panda-shaped dough figurines and ox-shaped paper-tearing artworks, guided by professional teachers.
Youngsters with rabbit-shaped tangyuan.
Wandi Adriano, consul of the Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia in Shanghai, said that although he could not go home during the Spring Festival holiday this year because of the pandemic, he took part in many activities, walked around town and visited many places like Yuyuan Garden to get to know about the city.
To let the expats “build a home away from home,” activities of this kind have been organized by The Expatriate Center around three to four times per year since 2019, said Yuan Yi, director of The Expatriate Center.
Wandi Adriano, consul of the Consulate General of the Republic of Indonesia in Shanghai, shows his Chinese paper-tearing artwork.
A woman looks at a Chinese traditional painting at the exhibition about Chinese New Year customs at the Shanghai Mass Art Center.
