The celebration of Chinese New Year has become traditional at Penza State University. This year according to the Chinese calendar, the holiday fell on 6th February.

The Day of Chinese Culture is arranged at PSU as part of the Cultural Marathon “Around the World in Two Semesters”. This event held on 14th February 2019 brought together university academic and administrative staff and students from different countries.

“It is great that we organise the Day of Chinese Culture in early February, when Chinese nationals have New Year holidays. In the lunisolar calendar, this year is the Year of the Pig. In China holidays last two weeks and they are extremely saturated. During festivities we provide PSU students and staff with the opportunity to explore culture and traditions of China,” Vera Shmelkova, event supervisor and Head of the Department of Russian as a Foreign Language, stated.

“Penza State University trains 64 students from the PRC. Most of them master such study fields as Music, Linguistics, and Economics. This confirms the high level of our university and Russian education in general. I would like to note that interest of Chinese citizens in PSU is increasing,” Sergei Vasin, Vice-Rector for International Affairs at PSU, stressed.

The guests learned about the major sights in China, ways of celebrating the New Year, food and drinks that the Chinese prepare for festivities. PSU students from China made the costume presentation and introduced their viewers to the history of the holiday and cultural peculiarities of the country, where more than 1 billion people live.

The event was attended by Heidong Wang, CEO of the consulting company in Shanghai. This organization is one of the university’s partners. He was impressed by the level of proficiency in Russian and academic performance of Chinese students. In addition, Heidong Wang expressed hope that China and Russia will continue to promote cooperation in the field of education.