SISU international students join in celebrations to welcome the new year

ore than 1,000 international students of Shanghai International Studies University (SISU) joined in a spectacular New Year gala to welcome the year of 2017 at the Shaw Auditorium on SISU’s Hongkou Campus on December 20, 2016. The 3-hour event featured a variety of amazing performances that highlighted cultural inclusiveness and friendship among different nations.

Amazing performances

The opening dance “K-Pop” performed by Korean students captivated all the audience, which was followed by a classical Chinese song “A Branch of Plum Blossom” sung by a Nepalese student.

Then a student from Kyrgyzstan stunned the audience with a fantastic show that amazingly matched the popular B-box with the traditional harmonica.

The musical drama “Christmas in Shanghai” performed by Ukrainian and Dutch students was another hit of the gala acclaimed by the audience with wonderful songs, passionate dance and intriguing storylines.

Cultural inclusiveness

Cultural inclusiveness was artfully highlighted by a dancing group composed of European, Southeast Asian and African students at SISU who, despite different nationalities and cultural backgrounds, presented a marvelous Chinese folk dance, winning applause from every corner of the hall.

The folk dance, with interesting wrist and neck movements, presented the unique charms of the ethnic traditions in Chinese Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region and the cultural customs along the Silk Road, a symbolic route connecting the East and the West.  

Friendship without borders

Waving the national flags of China and their motherland, dozens of Pakistani students in red T-shirts presented a powerful choir performance “I love you, China” that impressed the audience with their sincere expression of the love for China, for peace, and for the friendship between China and Pakistan.

“I love China, because Pakistan and China are good neighbors and close friends just like brothers,” one of the Pakistan students said. “I find Chinese students here very nice and hospitable. As I know more about China, I become more interested in this great country.”

With colorful lights shining and holiday music filling in the air, the SISU international students New Year gala concluded in a lingering feeling of festive celebration.