Last Wednesday, the Yew Chung International School of Beijing held its annual Temple Fair to celebrate the upcoming Year of the Rooster. Students, teachers, vendors, and performers joined together to create a truly festive atmosphere. Stalls replete with seasonal treats, handicrafts, traditional games, and even goldfish (representing wealth and prosperity) lined the walls of the gym and bright red banners and lanterns hung from the ceiling. The events saw hundreds of guests throughout the day, a rousing success and validation of plenty of hard work on the part of the organizers and staff!

The highlight of the event was a series of fantastic face-changing performances, a showcase of speed and coordination by a trained professional as they swapped their mask over and over seemingly out of thin air. Primary School children also put on traditional Chinese songs, dances, poetry, and other performances; despite some nerves, the hard work of both the teachers and their students was clear from the quality of the show.

Jessica Sun, Secondary School Chinese Curriculum Coordinator and Head Organizer of the Temple Fair, expressed praise for both the event and its performers:

This year’s Temple Fair went really well this year. The combination of traditional games, demonstrations, and local Beijing vendors and performers created an authentic and festive Chinese New Year environment we work so hard to recreate. I’d like to give special thanks to the Year 12 students this year. They worked hard in a much more limited time frame than normal due to an early Chinese New Year this year, but still managed to provide the same fantastic booths and games for the community to enjoy! A big thanks to our supporting staff, including the maintenance and cleaning ladies, who helped to set everything up in a timely fashion.

The Temple Fair is a valuable activity for students and the greater expat community because it gives them an authentic Beijing experience. The fact that they can experience this kind of atmosphere and enjoy the activities, games, and snacks that Chinese people do is valuable for broadening their horizons. Learning through experience is one of the most effective ways of learning, and one that we strive to offer our students on a regular basis here at the Yew Chung International School of Beijing.

From all of us at the Yew Chung International School of Beijing, we wish you a wonderful Chinese New Year holiday and an auspicious Year of the Rooster!

Learn more about our Chinese language and culture curriculum by visiting our programme homepage.