Recently, Chinese Students in the Berlin/Brandenburg Metropolitan Region held their Spring Festival Gala for the Year of the Horse at the Technical University of Berlin. Deng Hongbo, Chinese Ambassador to Germany, attended the event, celebrating the festival with close to one thousand Chinese students, overseas Chinese, and local residents.

Liu Lixin, Minister Counselor for Education of the Chinese Embassy in Germany, delivered a speech on behalf of the embassy, extending festive greetings and New Year wishes to the Chinese students. He commended their academic dedication, solidarity, and mutual support, and encouraged them to continue promoting Sino-German friendship and telling China’s stories, contributing to closer people-to-people ties. The embassy reaffirmed its commitment to “diplomacy for the people”, pledging consistent support for Chinese nationals working and living in Germany as a reliable anchor and warm haven.

The gala, themed “Journey to the West: Galloping into the Future”, drew on Journey to the West as its cultural thread and highlighted the spirit of the White Dragon Horse. Grounded in fine traditional Chinese culture and featuring a variety of artistic forms, the event showcased both the profound heritage and contemporary vitality of Chinese culture.

The performance opened with Spring Festival Overture, performed by art students from Berlin, heralding the arrival of the Spring Festival. Dragon Soaring, Tiger Leaping to Celebrate the Spring Festival, presented by students from the Wenwu Schule Berlin, skillfully integrated lion and dragon dances with martial arts, vividly reflecting the vibrant and aspiring spirit of young kung fu practitioners. A Peking Opera excerpt, Journey to the West: Farewell at Sha Bridge, recreated the farewell scene of seeing off Xuanzang with classic vocal styles. The Chinese dance performance Ink drew inspiration from ink painting and calligraphy, presenting an elegant picture of Eastern aesthetics that balances illusion and reality, and movement and stillness.