A tale of two countries – celebrating Chinese New Year in a new vibe

Chinese New Year is the most important festival for the Chinese community. Three CUHK students shared how they had celebrated the festival while on exchange in mainland China and Singapore.

Bianca Cheng, a Year 3 BBA-JD student started her exchange experience in mainland China with a 28-day self-quarantine before attending in-person classes at Tsinghua University. She kept up the good spirit during her quarantine by watching films and reading fictions. She also acquired a new technique of drawing on iPad. ‘I called my family to send my greetings during the Chinese New Year. I am grateful for being assigned to this hotel with a decent living environment and helpful staff. They even prepared “tong yuen” (sweet glutinous rice balls) and dumplings for me to celebrate the Chinese New Year.’

Dumplings served by the quarantine hotel for the Chinese New Year cheer Bianca up.

Ying Tung Ng, a Year 3 student of Architectural Studies and Jiawen Wang, a Year 3 student of Hospitality and Real Estate had different experiences at the National University of Singapore. ‘On Chinese New Year’s Eve, all exchange students from CUHK gathered for dinner at the sky lounge of the University Town. How great it is to return to normal school life after a long while with some of the tutorials being conducted physically! I really appreciate this life-changing experience,’ said Jiawen. Ying Tung echoed, ‘The measures adopted by the government and the school are strict but promising. All students have to wear masks, record body temperature every day and keep a safe social distance. During the Chinese New Year, some of us joined a voluntary beach clean-up activity at Changi Beach organised by the hostel office. We enjoyed it very much.’

All exchange students from CUHK gather for dinner on Chinese New Year’s Eve at the National University of Singapore.

Kicking off a good start of the year by cleaning up a beach in Singapore.