The Confucius Classroom at Maxim Gorky High School in Stara Zagora, Affiliated with the Confucius Institute in Sofia, Hosted a Series of Cultural Activities to Celebrate the Spring Festival in the Year of the Horse

From February 16 to February 20，the Confucius Classroom at Maxim Gorky High School in Stara Zagora, affiliated with the Confucius Institute in Sofia, hosted a series of cultural activities to celebrate the Spring Festival in the Year of the Horse. Among these events, the main celebration took place on February 19 at the Zahariy Knyazheski Regional Library in Stara Zagora. More than 300 people participated in the event, including Stanimira Dimitrova, Director of the Education and Youth Activities Department of Stara Zagora; Tonya Turturikova and Plamen Valkov, vice-principals of Maxim Gorky High School; as well as students, teachers, parents, and representatives from various sectors of society.

In her speech, Vice Principal Tonya Turturikova thanked the Confucius Institute in Sofia for their strong support over the years in Chinese language teaching and cultural activities, and expressed her hope to further deepen cooperation in the future, to jointly promote the development of Chinese language education in Bulgaria, and to strengthen Sino-Bulgarian cultural exchange.

The Sino-Bulgarian Spring Festival Gala consisted of two parts: a cultural experience and an artistic performance. Teachers and students from the Confucius Classroom carefully arranged cultural booths, attracting many visitors to try calligraphy, blue-and-white porcelain, Peking Opera masks, paper-cutting, Chinese knots, tea ceremony, the Chinese zodiac, and Chinese philosophical knowledge. Fun games such as shuttlecock kicking and picking up peanuts with chopsticks were especially entertaining, eliciting bursts of laughter throughout the venue. The artistic performance kicked off with a solo fan dance, followed by a stage play about the Chinese zodiac, a recitation of Chinese philosophical quotations, ethnic dances, Chinese songs, a Dragon Dance, and other performances, all drawing rounds of applause from the audience.

In addition to the Spring Festival Gala, the Confucius Classroom organized numerous cultural activities on February 16, 17, 18 and 20, including Chinese calligraphy, paper-cutting, Chinese knot making, a table-tennis tournament, Chinese knowledge competition, and a school-based escape room game combining language and culture. The activities were innovative in format, combined education with entertainment, were very popular among students, and attracted over 200 participants in total.

This event was not only a showcase of the academic achievements of the Confucius Classroom at Maxim Gorky High School, but also created a positive atmosphere for future teaching work. Going forward, the Confucius Classroom will continue to organize a variety of cultural activities to enrich students’ school life and further boost their enthusiasm for learning Chinese.

Confucius Institute in Sofia

Text: Zhu Jinli

Photos: Tang Xun, Yang Kaiyuan, Georgi Tonev

Editors: Chen Ying, Aksiniya Koleva, Ding Chen

English translation: Dima Pironkova