Chinese Lantern Festival Held at PetrSU
In China, the New Year celebration lasts 15 days. The last, fifteenth day is Yuánxiāo jié, or the Lantern Festival, which most Chinese people love more than the New Year itself; in 2025, Yuánxiāo jié falls on February 12.
The Yuánxiāo jié Lantern Festival was organized by students of the Institute of Philology studying in the field of training "Russian as a Foreign Language, Chinese Language", under the guidance of Chinese language teacher Wang Shichu. The guests were students and teachers of the Institute of Philology, the Institute of History, Political and Social Sciences, employees and guests of PetrSU, as well as teachers and students of the Petrozavodsk State Conservatory named after A. Glazunov - more than 80 people in total. The hosts of the event were the students of the Institute of Philology Daria Ershova and Yaroslavna Kuzmina.
The speakers talked about the traditions of celebrating the New Year in China, about what gifts are usually given to each other, what treats are served on the holiday table, what special hieroglyphs are used during the holiday and much more. The students not only recited poems and sang songs in Chinese. They made festive lanterns of different shapes and sizes with their own hands, from which everyone present chose the best ones.
A pleasant surprise was a greeting via video link from China by Linlin Zhao, who taught Chinese at PetrSU for 2 years since the launch of the educational program.
Now, after completing her postgraduate studies at PetrSU and successfully defending her PhD dissertation, Linlin has returned to China and teaches Russian as a foreign language:
“I am very glad to see my dear students and colleagues, I remember the department, the Institute of Philology and Petrozavodsk University with great warmth. It is wonderful that the Petrozavodsk University studies the Chinese language and culture, thereby strengthening the relations between our countries. I wish the department, institute and university prosperity and well-being in the New Year!
In China, during the Yuánxiāo jié celebration, riddles are written on lanterns, and to guess them, you need to be smart and think outside the box. At the end of the holiday, the audience was asked Chinese riddles in Russian, and those who guessed received a symbol of the holiday as a gift - a red lantern with the hieroglyph of happiness and well-being.
The Red Lantern Festival turned out to be bright and colorful, friendly and filled with emotions.
