Chinese Culture Day is always an exciting and memorable day at AISG where we celebrate the culture of our host country as well as the upcoming Lunar New Year holiday. The day is full of celebrations, performances, activities, games, and more!

This year’s theme was ‘Descendants of the Dragon’, in honor of the Year of the Dragon. In China, the image of the dragon can be traced back to more than 8000 years and has been a symbol of power since the Shang Dynasty. The theme also celebrates the remarkable descendants of the dragon in diverse fields throughout ancient China – from emperors, generals, poets, novelists, painters, inventors, mathematicians, and more. The activities and performances during the day were based on these themes.

The morning started with our Annual Fund Hongbao Appreciation Reception. As students and caregivers arrived in the morning, they were given the chance to hang their blessings on a big cherry blossom tree at the entrance of our Ersha campus. Our Annual Fund team and caregiver volunteers were invited to join the morning celebrations with a tea ceremony and all of the 228 hongbao artworks were on display for everyone to see.

The entire Elementary School came together for the performances, with an incredible 73 students from Kindergarten to Grade 4 performing the opening dance. Then, 56 students paraded on stage with flags to represent the 56 different ethnic groups in China, showcasing their names, locations, costumes, and customs.

Afterwards, 16 of our faculty children gave their best wishes for the new year, showcasing the incredible work they’ve done learning Chinese. Some of our faculty also got up onstage to show off their Chinese language skills with Chinese idioms.

Our Grade 5 students put on their annual lion and dragon dance! They spent a whole month practicing the dance moves, drumming and cymbaling, and designing the flags and posters.

Our students were abuzz with excitement at the variety of different activities and games our incredible caregiver volunteers have helped to organize. This year, 80 of our caregivers prepared activities with the six themes of science, medicine, architecture, literature and art, agriculture, and emperors, ministers, and warriors. These included activities like healthy soup packet making, sugar figure making, face painting, plane dyeing, weaving and knitting, and mini archery.

Chinese Culture Day is a great way to immerse our students and teachers in in an experiential learning journey of China's long history and brilliant culture. The aim is to acquaint them with outstanding historical figures and their achievements, encouraging our students to become exceptional descendants of the dragon, achieving success in their respective fields, realizing their dreams, and making positive contributions to society and the world.

At AISG, we believe in celebrating the rich cultural heritage of China. We want all our students to experience the unique arts and activities that make this region so special. Through experiences like Chinese Culture Day, our students gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of the local culture and develop a lifelong love for the traditions that make China so unique.

A huge thank you to our caregiver volunteers and Chinese team who helped to organize all of the activities, make the costumes, teach the dance moves, and run the booths. They put in an incredible amount of work every year to make the day memorable and this year was no exception!

E-Hong Bao

We are excited to release more E-Hong Bao designs featuring artwork from our community! From our official WeChat account, download and click on the artwork in this article for a limited number that can be used and stay tuned for more E-Hong Bao artworks to be released before the Chinese New Year. We welcome everyone to be a part of our culture of giving.

At AISG, we are privileged to have a vibrant and diverse group of families who are as equally committed to supporting our students as they are to supporting each other as a community. Click here to learn more about the AISG community.