Chinese New Year, also known as the Spring Festival, is the most important holiday in China—a time when friends and family gather happily to share joy and count their blessings. New Year festivities usher out the old year and are meant to bring luck and prosperity in the new one. To enable students to celebrate this significant traditional festival together, East China Normal University (ECNU) has prepared a variety of celebratory activities and services.
On February 10th, Xiayu Hall at ECNU’s Minhang Campus was adorned with lanterns, permeated with a joyful Lunar New Year atmosphere. The university’s 2026 Spring Festival Gala kicked off warmly here, gathering over a thousand Chinese and international faculty members, staff, and students who stayed on campus to celebrate the upcoming Year of the Horse.
The gala opened with the passionate folk music performance Galloping War Horses, which instantly ignited the audience’s enthusiasm. Co-hosted by Counselor Liang Mengting and Ding Bowen, an undergraduate from the Class of 2025, the event seamlessly integrated splendid performances, heartwarming interactions, and delicious food, creating a lively and welcoming atmosphere.
“I’m absolutely thrilled!” An international student from Nigeria emotionally exclaimed after the show. “I’m deeply grateful to the university for inviting us to celebrate the Chinese New Year. It’s a precious opportunity to experience cultural exchange on campus.” He also shared his Spring Festival plans: traveling to several cities outside Shanghai with friends to explore diverse New Year celebrations while reserving time to make progress on his master’s thesis.
A particularly heartwarming “group birthday” segment honored 59 students from 20 departments who have birthdays in February, with 14 of them invited onto the stage to receive blessings from the entire audience. Accompanied by the birthday song, the celebrants cut the cake together, spreading the romance, sweetness, and warmth of ECNU to everyone present.
Fei Minyue, a master’s student from the School of Life Sciences, also chose to stay on campus for the New Year—partly due to her ongoing scientific experiments and partly to experience a unique holiday atmosphere. “The gala made me deeply feel the thoughtful care from the university and teachers,” she said. “The scene was lively and warm, filling the New Year away from home with warmth and no sense of loneliness at all.”
In addition to the gala, the university prepared exquisite New Year gift packs for all students staying on campus, delivering the warmth of “home” to every ECNUer.
From Chinese New Year’s Eve to the third day of the first lunar month, the university canteens launched nutritious and delicious “Spring Festival set meals.” Those students remaining on campus could enjoy free meals by verifying their campus cards at designated canteen windows. On Chinese New Year’s Eve, they also received presentation gift boxes containing fresh fruits, assorted nuts, candies, and specially made Year of the Horse cookies.
In the afternoon of the same day, a party celebrating traditional customs was held, featuring seven special activities centered on “horse” elements. It ingeniously integrated traditional folk customs with modern creativity, creating a vibrant festive ambiance.
This series of immersive and interactive activities not only enabled faculty and students to deeply appreciate the charm of excellent traditional Chinese culture through hands-on experiences but also wove a vivid picture of a campus New Year—filled with festive joy and heartfelt warmth—amidst laughter and cheers.
Author: Xu Xincheng
Copy editor: Philip Nash
