Tomorrow (1 February), marks the start of the Lunar New Year, and as we say goodbye to the year of the Ox, we warmly welcome the year of the Tiger. The courage, ambition and energy for life symbolised by the Tiger are qualities that we see in our University community each and every year.
In this video Professor Dame Janet Beer, Vice-Chancellor, Professor Gavin Brown, Pro-Vice-Chancellor for Education, Bertie Woodcock, President of Liverpool Guild of Students and students from across the University wish our whole community a very happy, healthy and prosperous New Year.
This year has continued to be challenging in many ways – challenges which our whole community, both here in Liverpool and at XJTLU, has risen to with great strength and resolve, and for this we thank you.
The historic links and strong relations between China and Liverpool are well known and the University is extremely proud of our global community of students, who contribute significantly to the rich cultural diversity of our campuses and city, as well as our partnership with XJTLU, which provides life changing opportunities for student mobility.
Ways to celebrate
As national COVID-19 restrictions start to lift, this year we are delighted to be able to safely hold celebration events on campus for all students and staff to take part in. Below you’ll find some of the key activities and events taking place on campus and across the city – remember, you can view all these events and many more on our My Liverpool app, free for all students and staff to download.
1. Join our celebrations on University Square, Tuesday, 1 February
Head to University Square between 10am-12pm on Tuesday, 1 February to join in our Lunar New Year celebrations. There will be free treats to enjoy on a first-come-first-served basis, and a live dragon show from 11-11.45am. The University of Liverpool Confucius Institute will be running Chinese calligraphy and paper cutting workshops, as well as performances of live Chinese music and dance.
2. Watch the dragon and unicorn parades and fire show at the city’s all-day celebration, Sunday, 6 February
Head down to the Chinese arch, at the heart of Europe’s oldest Chinatown, from 11am – 5.30pm on Sunday, 6 February to take part in the city’s New Year celebrations.
There will be Tai Chi, dragon and unicorn parades and traditional Chinese dance, firecracker displays and a fire dragon finale. Don’t head home without browsing the food stalls, art workshops and checking out the funfair.
There will also be plenty of Chinese food to sample from the many food stalls, art workshops with make and do activities as well as the storytelling bus and popular funfair.
The University of Liverpool Confucius Institute will be holding calligraphy and paper craft workshops along with Chinese music performances, in collaboration with Liverpool China Partnership and Culture Liverpool.
Don’t worry if you can’t make it, there is plenty to enjoy online from the comfort of your own home with a selection of activities and archive footage available before and after the main event. Celebrations kick off at 11am and are due to run until 5.30pm. See the full programme of events here.
3. See the ‘prowling tiger’ at the Bombed Out Church, Friday, 4 – Sunday, 6 February
From Friday, 4 February until Sunday, 6 February, a 3D animated Water Tiger will prowl around the tower inside St Luke’s Church, commonly referred to as the Bombed Out Church at the bottom of Hardman Street.
Taking place from 6pm until 9pm each night, the projections will transform the tower into a Chinese pagoda, complete with lanterns designed by local schools and community groups.
The show, which lasts for 10 minutes and will run on a loop each evening, is free but there is an ask for donations for the venue. The work has been created by Focal Studios, Scenegraph Studios in collaboration with the Bombed Out Church.
4. Look out for decorations across the city
In the lead up to this year’s celebrations, you will see thousands of Chinese lanterns start to light up the city centre streets, as well as a number of buildings across the city illuminated in red in honour of the New Year – signifying good fortune and joy.
These buildings include the Cunard, Port of Liverpool, Liverpool Town Hall, St George’s Hall, Central Library Picton Colonnades, Toxteth Library, Everyman & Playhouse Theatres, the Martin Luther King building, Mersey Gateway Bridge and University of Liverpool’s Yoko Ono Centre. The Royal Liver Building and the Radio City tower will light up on Tuesday, 1 February.
On campus we will also be illuminating 126 Mount Pleasant, the home of our Confucius Institute.
5. Discover Chinese Culture with Liverpool Confucius Institute
The Liverpool Confucius Institute (LCI) at the University of Liverpool organise a regular series of Chinese language (Mandarin) and cultural courses, including Chinese Mandarin HSK, Business Chinese, Calligraphy and Painting courses. For full course details and information on how to register please see the LCI website.