Chinese New Year Dinner

On Monday 10 February St George's School for Girls and Merchiston Castle School came together at the Imperial Palace for our annual Chinese New Year Dinner. It is a wonderful event for the students of the two schools to come together and share their interests in the importance of studying Chinese, to eat Chinese food and of course celebrate Chinese New Year. The event has been running between the schools for many years now and is organised by the staff and students of both schools. During the dinner we have performances by students from both schools, ranging from music to speeches and even more.  This year we had two excellent musical performances, some beautiful violin music and a Chinese song accompanied by guitar. We also enjoyed a game at the end of the meal which required the table to work as a team. The dinner is a fun event which brings St George's and Merchiston together to celebrate learning Chinese, and to explore China's culture.

I think events like these are a great opportunity for students to learn about Chinese culture in a more immersive environment, and share experiences with students from other schools.  I also think it encourages younger students to take up the language and to try out new things. Celebrating such an important part of China's culture is a great way for students to experience China's colourful traditions and inspire enthusiasm in our younger generations to take up learning of the subject.  It is not only an example of bringing people together through the understanding of languages, but bringing people together through the shared enjoyment of learning about the language, and of the culture itself.

Megan Hammell