MAI Celebrated Chinese New Year
On 4 February 2019, the Chinese New Year was celebrated in MAI for the first time. The Lunar New Year, or Spring Festival, is celebrated in some East Asian countries like China, Vietnam, Mongolia, Korea, etc. For many international students of MAI, who came from this region, this event is one of the meaningful occasion of the year.
In connection with the increase in the number of students entering MAI from the People’s Republic of China and many of them stay in Russia during holiday, it has become necessary to celebrate a Chinese New Year to cheer them up on a such great day and pay tribute to student culture.
"It is a great challenge to be far away from family and friends, to experience new culture. That is why we organized this celebration at the closest way that it is organized in China,"- said Olga Pogosian, Head of International Department of MAI.
More than 60 Chinese students of MAI took part in the celebration. The celebration hall was decorated in Chinese style and festive tables were full of traditional Chinese dishes. All the governance of MAI, headed by Rector Mikhail Pogosian, congratulated students with the upcoming New Year. “I hope that the last year was successful for all of you. I wish that the New Year will give you new ideas, new opportunities, new goals. Much happiness and good luck for all of you!” - wished the Rector to the students in his speech.
The program of the event was very rich: live broadcast of Spring Festival Gala from China, talent show, contests and games, musical performances, disco dance, etc. At midnight, Beijing time, the students cheerfully blasted crackers and congratulated each other on the New Year.
“The Chinese New Year in MAI turned out to be very similar to the one that we celebrate at home, except for the presence of our families. But here we are with our friends! The celebration was well prepared, Chinese food was really tasty. We had a lot of fun!” - shared his impressions about the holiday Wang Xuyang, student of MAI-SJTU Master’s degree program
The story on how the New Year is celebrated in China you can read here.
