The annual Chinese New Year show, organised by the York Chinese Students and Scholars’ Association (YSSA) has become one of the most important dates annually in the University’s cultural calendar, and after an award-winning event last year, the Year of the Snake had a lot to live up to. It certainly didn’t disappoint.
Chinese New Year fell in February with great celebrations across the city, and in recent years it has been a tradition for the Chinese Students and Scholars’ Association to hold a seasonal gala, full of sound and wonder, to add some further colour to the celebration.
The theme of the night was a duel between red and yellow, similar to the dragons that came through York, and the three-hour show was split into four acts, each related to quotes by Shakespeare, Keats, Jorge Luis Borges, and Yeats.
The festivities also attracted some key figures, including senior diplomats, University staff, and local officials. The ceremony itself was opened by Tang Rui, China’s Consul General to the UK, who praised the participants and also commented on Sir Keir Starmer’s recent summit with Xi Jinping in Brazil, saying that he hoped that there would be a thaw in relations. Being based in Manchester, Mr. Tang praised York as the “quintessential English town.”
“I believe after graduation, whether you are, you are the bridge between our two countries.” He also spoke of his hope of a “deeper connection between the University of York and higher education institutions in China”, something echoed later by the Vice Chancellor Charlie Jeffery.
On with the show, and Chapter 1 opened with a medley of classical New Year music, accompanying the TV broadcast of Beijing’s New Year countdown last month, and a series of stock footage videos showing the very best of the Chinese landscape. This was followed by “The Letter”, a calm Chinese dance performed by Wu Ruike and Liu Jinyu.
It may have been accidental, but it came out in this performance – the live feed of the cameras was available on the big screens, and it appeared that the Steadicam operators going around the stage were capturing the action at an ever so slightly slower frame rate than the main cameras looking down on it. The result gave a slightly dream-like feel to the action when captured by the Steadicam, and it resulted in a wonderfully slick and stylish recording.
That was before the schedule turned on its head with “Wukong+Skin”, performed by Liu Mingyang. An electric guitar performance, plus a stellar vocal range, over a dramatic backing track. That’s a way to get the evening’s vocal performances off to a good start. Someone needs to send him to Eurovision – jury and televote favourite right there. “Falling Leaves Return to Their Roots”, a traditional song performed by Zhong Shihui and Fa Sireevaranunt, was next, a slower end to finish the first chapter. A rollercoaster of emotions and that was only the first hour – even that felt much quicker.
Now is probably a good time to mention that there was a raffle in between each chapter – the show had a large number of corporate sponsors, and the product placement was evident with a lot of prizes to give away. The first one was for ten goodie bags, before we were promptly informed that there would be raffles in between each act, so lots of chances to win. It didn’t detract from the performance, and provided some entertaining filler.
Chapter 2 opened strongly, with a quartet of singers, all entering from seats in the audience. Special mention to Li Jinyu who opened the act, holding a high note for a good ten seconds at least. After each singer made their way to the Central Hall stage, no sooner was the audience sat calmly in their seats when a six-strong K-pop dance troupe stormed onto the stage. A whiplash if ever there was one, but both went down very well in the hall.
An acoustic song came next, before a folk music ensemble with the slightly juxtaposed title “Jasmine and Horse Racing”, performed by the East Asian Youth Orchestra. Founded in 2008, they had also played at the February celebrations. Another giveaway with much higher stakes this time: a flight to China was on the cards from Hainan, one of China’s largest airlines. One of the University lecturers as a guest of honour was the lucky winner – being in her audience block, we were allowed to get our hopes up. She had a photo shoot on stage, and then Chapter 3.
The third chapter was seemingly intended to be much slower than the first – named after Jorge Luis Borges’ quote “If I could live my life again… I wouldn’t try to be so perfect.” That said, it opened with two streetdance troupes in quick succession, “Fearless” and “Strategy”, with one opposing the other. A comedy skit about “the life of an international student”: the feeling of your phone and social life distracting you from that one essay, went down very well in the hall thanks to Lin Zekun’s delivery. A song, “Planting Trees”, sung very well by Zion Bai, followed well into a folk music performance, which conveyed the intensity of Chinese dramatic performances. By the end of Chapter 3, we got a general formula for the chapters: open big, introduce a calmer middle and make it all merge into a cultural exhibition by the end. The formula worked extremely well, providing a contrast between the bells and whistles of the opening. For a three-and-a-half hour show without an interval, it divided its four acts go very quickly.
The fourth chapter began with a four-piece streetdance troupe, before a beautiful rendition of “Spring Ballet” by Tianyi. Then came the most amusing outtake of the evening – the hosts attempted some filler by asking non-Chinese audience members how they enjoyed the show… and by complete perhappenstance the audience member asked speaks word-perfect Chinese! The hosts are stunned, the audience is thrilled… truly a highlight of the night, made completely by accident!
What followed to round off the night was a rendition of “The Moon Represents My Heart” – one of China’s most famous pieces of music, and a genuinely great performance by Angel Wong. The same band followed with a bilingual performance of The Cranberries’ “Dreams”, a song that seemed to translate surprisingly well. A choir then took their place to round off the show with “The Joy of Snowflakes” – a modern piece which has recently become popular with Chinese choirs, and a performance of “Me and My Country”, one of the most popular patriotic songs. Everyone then came back for the grand finale, to round off an impressive performance.
I spoke to host and York PhD student Li Xiancan after the show, and was extremely surprised to hear that the whole show was planned within a month, having rehearsed together only for a week. He was quick to tell me that he had been “accepted” by his Chinese peers. Likewise, fellow host and recent graduate Fang Yanwei called the preparation for the show “quite hectic” but enjoyed York so much that he came back to host.
The Lord Mayor of York, Cllr Margaret Wells, said: “We have a thirst for learning about different cultures”, including the “beautiful and historic country” of China. She also talked highly of the New Year celebrations last month, quipping “We don’t often get dragons in York.”
Charlie Jeffery also echoed Tang Rui’s emphasis on the bilateral relationship between higher education in both countries. He praised the “creativity and professionalism” of the performers and producers, saying that Chinese students “contribute so much to the dynamism of this university”, and that he was “keen to develop partnerships and relationships” with universities in China.
A great evening from start to finish. Whether you were cheering for the reds or the yellows, we’d much rather this over Britain’s Got Talent for some enriching Saturday night entertainment. 新年快乐!