Society

Chinese Culture Day celebrated in Australia

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-06-24 15:23

MELBOURNE - Around 1,500 students from 37 schools in Victoria state, Australia, participated in the "2011 Victoria Chinese Culture Day" event at Melbourne Town Hall on Thursday.

The Melbourne Town Hall was fully packed with participants, with some students traveled three hours to join the function.

A big red lantern, a Chinese symbol representing auspicious, was hanged in the middle of the stage. Also attracting the audiences was a giant red banner, which wrote "2011 Victorian Chinese Culture Day."

The event's hosts are a Chinese speaker and an Australian, Greg Hughes, a grammar school teacher in Melbourne. Hughes was speaking in fluent Chinese to introduce performances to the audiences, whereas the Chinese host was translating what he said into English.

The Australian students gave various Chinese-featured performances, including red ribbon dance, Chinese Kung Fu, Chinese singing and orchestral performance.

Students from the PEGS Chinese Orchestra performed a Chinese folk music recital, and they also sang a famous Chinese song " Hometown on The Sea."

Students from the Carey School put on Chinese minority costumes and performed a wonderful red ribbon dance.

There was Chinese martial art Tai Chi performance as well.

The Australian students also engaged in various competitions on Chinese culture.

Kingswood College's Australian school student, Shahzad, who had won an outstanding ranking in the Chinese Bridge competition, gave a tai chi fan performance.

He told audiences in fluent Chinese that learning Chinese has helped him learn more about the Chinese culture. He said he wished the Chinese and the Australians to have more tolerance to each other's culture, and further develop cooperation.

An activity called "Knowledge of Chinese Culture" has been a difficult task for the Australian students. There have been questions such as "What are the four major Chinese festivals?" " What are the characteristics of each festival food, and what are their special meanings?"

After long discussions, a Chinese student who was born in Australia named three of the major festivals. Another Australian female student named five out of the 12 zodiac animals.

The "Xinhua Gallery" presented by Xinhua News Agency has won a lot of attention from the Australian students. It showcased students with images of the China's natural and cultural heritage, symbolic landscapes and iconic buildings, 56 different ethic minorities, as well as well-known Chinese tennis player Li Na and other athletes.

The picture show attracted many Australian students gathering to watch. They read the captions of the images, and had discussions with their peers from time to time. Some students also took pictures of themselves with their favorite Chinese photos.

Chinese Consul General based in Melbourne, Shi Wei Qiang told Xinhua that Thursday's function is very important for the relationship between China and Australia.

"I think they (the Australian students) are very interested about learning Chinese," he told Xinhua on Thursday.

"Learning Chinese is not just about the language, but also about the Chinese culture, ideology and philosophy. China has five thousand years of civilization, and I think this is a significant attraction to the Australians," he said.

"After attending today's event, I believe there will be a lot of Australian students interested in studying in China, in order to learn more Chinese culture and thoughts."

Meanwhile, Victorian Parliamentary Secretary for Education, Inga Peulich, who represents the Premier of Victoria, told Xinhua that there are many Australian students came to the event, especially for the fact that many of them are not from Chinese background.

"Victorian state government highly value and encourage Australian students to learn Chinese language and culture, because it is very important to Victorians," she told Xinhua.

"The Chinese are very useful skills, and there are tremendous business opportunities in China. It will be difficult for our students to adapt to future development if they do not know Chinese," she said.

She said the Victorian government and the Chinese side have made a lot of efforts to promote Chinese culture, and she hopes to see more cooperation in education.

At the end of the function, there was a Lion dancing performance that interacted with the audience.

The "2011 Victoria Chinese Culture Day" was organized by the Chinese Association of Victoria,  China's Hanban, the Chinese Consul General based in Melbourne, Victoria State Department of Education, as well as the Xinhua News Agency's Canberra Bureau.