Lunar New Year at UTMN

Students from Russia, Colombia, Syria, Egypt, Jordan, China, South Korea, Vietnam have come together online to celebrate the Lunar New Year and learn about the history of the holiday.

On November 6, UTMN hosted Lunar New Year online. The number of participants has exceeded 130 people!

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Celebrating the Lunar New Year is a long-running tradition at the University of Tyumen. Every year, the Korean and Chinese centers join forces with the students to organize a large-scale event that brings together representatives of different ethnic groups from around the world.

“It is very important for us to maintain communication with our students who currently live outside of Russia or study remotely. We want them to feel included, help them experience life on campus, and to integrate them into the educational environment. Due to strong ties with international partners that have developed over the years, we also attracted students studying Russian, who are interested in enrolling to the University of Tyumen,” comments Tair Rakhmanov, Head of the Department of International Student and Scholar Services.

The participants learned about the customs of celebrating the Lunar New Year, which has evolved over the centuries and has retained their authenticity to this day in China, Vietnam, and Korea. Each participant discovered why tangerines are a common treat in China and Russia, why the lotus symbol is important for the people of Vietnam, and also why Koreans congratulate each other on New Years' with the word “happiness”.

The celebration concluded with each participant receiving a souvenir — a postcard and a personal horoscope based on the Chinese zodiac. The horoscope was compiled by Dr. Zhu Yufu, a professor from the partnering Qufu Pedagogical University.

Source: UTMN Department of Strategic Communications