Translator: Ekaterina Prodanova|SRS2021

Editor: Aneka Rebecca Rajbhandari|SRS2021

On December 30th, the New Year welcome event of Silk Road School was successfully held in the Student Event Room of the University library. Professor Jiang Xiaoli, Deputy Dean of Silk Road School, Dr. Zhu Fengyu, Director of Teaching Management Office of Silk Road School, Associate Professor Jiang Feng of International School and international students from Russia, Dominica, Rwanda and other countries participated in this event.

At the beginning of the meeting, Professor Jiang Xiaoli delivered an opening speech and extended her sincere wishes for the new year to all the teachers and students. Jiang Xiaoli said that the COVID-19 pandemic has brought great challenges to the entrance of international students, as well as special difficulties for the Silk Road School to carry out the normal teaching process. It is indeed a rare opportunity for the students from abroad to walk into the offline classroom and experience life in China firsthand. Professor Jiang hopes that students present on campus will cherish this opportunity. This year the new year celebration event is small in scale, but it represents the sincerity of the whole faculty and students of our school. The school looks forward to an early end to the pandemic and Professor Jiang ended her opening remark by wishing all the students good health, happiness, learning and progress in the new year.

In order to help students understand Chinese culture and tradition, the main activity that the students participated in was Chinese traditional paper-cutting to welcome the Spring Festival. This cultural phenomenon plays an important role in the New Year celebration in China, and it was fascinating for international students to have an opportunity to learn more about this folk art. After the host, Zeng Yingxin, demonstrated the basic techniques of paper-cutting in detail, the students could not wait to experience it. Everyone was busy folding, drawing and cutting. The red paper in their hands transformed into Chinese characters for “spring”(春), “wealth” （福） and “happiness”（囍）, as well as butterflies, snowflakes and plum blossoms. Astonished with the results, students exclaimed "Amazing, it's a miracle!" while demonstrating their works.

The college also prepared musical chair, a musical microphone and other interactive games for students. As participants joked with exaggerated expressions, the audience burst into laughter. During the singing activity, the students performed popular songs like "Tian Mi Mi" （甜蜜蜜）, "Moon Represents My Heart"(月亮代表我的心), "Good luck"(好运来) and "Gong Xi Fa Cai"（恭喜发财） with their own understanding, highlighting the spirit of celebration.

An International student, Sun Yujie, from Dominica shared: "This is the third time I get to celebrate the new year here in China. Each year, even through some challenging times, the SRS staff has made us feel very special. During my time here, I have realized that the strength of the Chinese nation resides in the strong sense of common purpose of the Chinese people. This is reflected in activities such as this one, where people meet and enjoy a fun time together.On behalf of the the SRS students I want to thank SRSfor including us in these year's celebrations and would like to wish you all a very happy and healthy 2022."

The year 2021 was a year of great significance. In the backdrop of the spread of the pandemic, we have reacted calmly and moved forward with a pioneering spirit. A series of online classes across the time zones, warm and friendly video conversations, a series of wonderful academic discussions - all of them embody the spirit of youth, striving and looking forward to the future of Silk Road School students. In the New Year of 2022, Silk Road School students will continue to uphold the spirit of working for human progress and the harmony of the world, striving for new academic achievements.