Li Liang, a girl who is studying for Doctor of Laws at University of Cambridge from Linyi City, East China’s Shandong Province, was invited to BBC to introduce Chinese culture of Chinese Spring Festival on February 16, the day of Chinese Lunar New Year. During her interview at BBC, Li Liang played Yang Qin, a traditional Chinese instrument resembles dulcimer, accompanied by a Singaporean girl with Ruan, a traditional Chinese plucked stringed instrument. The girls played two traditional Chinese tunes, namely Bu Bu Gao (which means to attain eminence step by step) and Xi Yang Yang (which means beaming with joy). Besides, two other students from Hong Kong were also invited to introduce Chinese lunar-new-year traditions.
For Li Liang, this is her first Spring Festival spent abroad since she came to Britain in September, 2017. A few days before the interview, she was invited to the New Year’s Party for Chinese in Cambridge to play Yang Qin along with Modern Chinese Orchestra of Cambridge University. On the day subsequent to her performance, Li Liang got the invitation from BBC.
British Prime Minister Theresa May and her husband Philip May show paper-cutting made by themselves at Yuyuan Garden in Shanghai, East China, Feb 2, 2018.
In the interview, host mentioned the story of British Prime Minister Theresa May’s recent visit to China that she was mocked by the British press for holding the Chinese character Fu upside down. However, the
mistake was by the newspaper not May. The character Fu means luck or happiness in Chinese. In fact, it is actually a custom to hang the character Fu in reverse on doors or in windows, as it means good luck will
arrive, as "upside down" rhymes with "arrive" in Chinese. Being a humorous incident for both Chinese and British, the story helped British a lot to understand Chinese culture.
As cultural exchanges between different countries go deeper, increasing westerners are willing to be involved in oriental festivals. “I saw two activities related to Chinese Lunar New Year recently where there
were foreign students involved, one is dragon and lion dance, the other one is Kunqu Opera The Peony Pavilion,” said Li Liang
