It is widely known that the Spring Festival is the most important festival in China. According to the Chinese lunar calendar, this year’s Spring Festival fell on the day of Jan 31st, which is earlier than before. Keats School invited all the teachers and students to celebrate the Spring Festival on Jan 24th.
At 6pm, we gathered together at the school and then walked to a Chinese restaurant on Dongfengdong Road. The restaurant was full of people greeting each other and sending out their best wishes for the new year. You may wonder why people go to a restaurant to have dinner instead of having the dinner at home. Isn’t the New Year’s Eve Dinner supposed to be taken at home? It used to be but now the tradition has changed a bit. In the past, all family members make dumplings together. However, now all the restaurants are fully booked one month in advance and it is really hard to find a table if you just walk in. Now Chinese people are getting rich and eating in a restaurant shows the affluence of life. They can order whatever they like to give a treat to themselves for a year of hardworking. Chinese people do not need to worry about hassles of preparing the food and washing the dishes afterwards. After the dinner at a restaurant, families go back home and watch the annual gala show on CCTV.
Our tables were next to the windows on the 2nd floor. When all the students and teachers arrived, all the tasty food was already there, awaiting for the celebration. We ordered the famous Sweet and Sour Fish, Yunnan-style steamed chicken and braised beef with brown sauce, etc. The teachers introduced the names of all the Chinese dishes and their ways of cooking, as well as their importance in celebrating the Spring Festival. Chatting and eating, the students enjoyed the dinner and this could be a special experience while they study Chinese in China. Students and teachers also took pictures to appreciate the special moment.
Finally, we expressed our wishes to all the students and everyone made a wish for the year of 2014. We believe the group dinner can be special to all of us and we will hold more events like this to help the students get to know Chinese language and Chinese culture.
