On December 30th afternoon, the Department of International Postgraduate Education organized a culture activity to celebrate the New Year. 12 international students from the class of 2019 experienced Chinese calligraphy and painting. Some of the other students of the class and alumni joined the activity via ZOOM.

Knowledge of Chinese calligraphy and painting were introduced at the beginning of the activity.

Students then learnt how to use the calligraphy brush to write and paint. They tried to write Xin Nian Kuai Le (Happy New Year) using Kaishu (Regular Script) style with teacher’s guidance. Chinese characters evolved from pictures and signs, and the unique Chinese calligraphy came into being during the development of writing. It has a long history, and is one of the most popular art in China.

At the end of this cultural activity, the students and the teacher worked together to complete a plum blossom painting scroll, with the students using their paint-dipped thumbs to create the plum blossoms and the teacher finishing the rest part of the work. Plum blossom is often seen as an auspicious symbol of spring.