Chinese language and culture learning is an integral part of the curriculum at YCIS Shanghai. Primary and Secondary students have a one-hour lesson of Chinese language each day, and this is further enhanced by learning about Chinese culture with a weekly Chinese Studies Course. Furthermore, students participate in many cultural learning events and activities throughout the school year, such as the recent Chinese Culture Day at the Regency Park and Century Park Campuses, where students celebrated and learnt even more about the traditions of their host country.

This year, the theme of the Chinese Culture Day was “Discovering the Beauty of Chinese Characters”, and students participated in specialised activities related to characters during their daily Chinese language class. This included practising Chinese calligraphy and decorating traditional kites. Lia, a Year 3 student at the Regency Park Campus, said “The most special part of the day was doing the activity in the classroom, and our class tried calligraphy. I really enjoyed it and I feel very special.”

For their morning break, the students had the chance to play traditional Chinese games on the sports fields and indoor courtyard. During lunch, students were able to taste a delicious Chinese dessert called maqiu. To end the day’s celebration, all Primary students gathered in the Regency Park Campus auditorium and watched several fantastic performances from local Shanghai traditional folk artists. Hui Lim, a Year 5 student at the Century Park Campus, commented, “Through these activities, we learnt more about Chinese characters and Chinese culture. Chinese Culture Day is so meaningful and fun!”

Chinese Culture Day is just one of many special Chinese-culture-related activities that students at YCIS participate in each school year. To learn more about the Chinese language and culture studies programme at the school, click here.