Chinese Kung Fu at Queen’s

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Whilst May-June is a busy and bustling season with exams and essay deadlines, it is also fleshed out with more exciting events such as the Development Weeks programme and the Chinese Cinema Season.

Today, we are delighted to introduce you to a student-led event from the Queen’s Sport Active Campus programme – Introduction to Chinese Kung Fu – to help relax your body and refresh your mind while combating the heavy workload.

May be an image of 1 person and text that says "QUEEN'S UNIVERSITY BELFAST QUEEN'S SPORT INTRODUCTIONT CHINESE KUNG FU Open to all levels! 4 WEEK COURSE Sunday 15TH May June TIME: 2-3pm LOCATION: Minor Hall Sign up through the Queen's Sport App or MS Forms."
Queen’s Sport FB

Kungfu (功夫 gōngfū), or Wushu (武术 wǔshù), is an ancient form of Chinese martial arts, as well as a full-contact sport. It started off just as a warmup for military exercises and became a military subject in earlier days. In contemporary times it is seen as a way of self-defence and physical fitness, and it has been officially recognised as an international sport.

From 15th May to 5th June, these four Sunday sessions are provided free for QUB staff, students and wider public members to get a taste of the charm of Chinese martial arts and to appreciate its artistic performance with diversified functions that are handy for all to learn to practise. The taster sessions also aim to help people to demystify Chinese martial arts culture through exercising their mental and physical reaction abilities.

Registration is now open and you are required to secure a place due to capacity.

Registration Form

About the coach

  • SHUAI Qi (帅琪), MSc candidate in Management from Queen’s University Management School
  • Born and brought up in a family of Chinese Wushu tradition
  • Champions of Wushu competitions at different levels
  • Registered national athlete
  • Rich experience in coaching at various levels both in China and elsewhere

I took the Chinese Kungfu Champion of Jiangxi province in 2016. Born and brought up in a family of Wushu tradition, I have started practising martial arts under my father’s supervision when I was five years old. I began to teach martial arts in a local kindergarten when I attended a middle school. Then I founded my first martial arts club in my high school. When I went to my university I taught some international students Chinese martial arts.

I enjoy making friends through sharing the culture of martial arts, and I also hope that I can promote Chinese martial arts among my international friends at Queen’s.

Shuai, qi

If you would like to receive updates about this event, you may follow Qi’s Instagram account:

Chinese Cinema Season

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Hooray! The biggest film festival for Chinese cinema of the year in Europe has landed in the UK, with a rich programme of films and events starting from 10th May until 10th June!

UK-China Film Collab

According to the UK-China Film Collab (英中电影合作研发中心), the presenter of Odyssey: a Chinese cinema season –

From 10th May to 10th June 2022, with more than 60 films in 8 curated sections, 10 panel discussions and many inspiring Q&A sessions, we will bring you a whole month of outstanding and innovative Chinese cinema that promises to illuminate your mind. The festival will not only introduce the latest young Chinese film talents to the UK audience, but also provide forums for professionals to exchange creativity and business ideas.

Odysseychinesecinema.com

While many of the events will take place in London and Edinburgh, there are a good many online events and films that one can choose to attend, some of which are free. Below are the highlights for local Chinese community and fans of Chinese films in Northern Ireland.

Neo Horizon: The Audience Award

As audience, you are invited to view the six selected films for free and vote for the Audience Award, starting from 10th May. Don’t miss out!

Click OdysseyChineseCinema.com for more details.

Shanghai Animation Film Studio Retro

This is a great opportunity to enjoy some classic Chinese animated films of different eras and art styles while learning about the history of Chinese animation.

Click OdysseyChineseCinema.com for details.

Discussion Panels

During the month-long China Cinema Season, there will also be ten online discussion panels, exploring aspects of UK-China film collaboration and other topics such as regional cinemas and the role of female film programmers in China.

Click Discussion Panels for details.

Hope you all will enjoy a fantastic season of Odyssey journey with Chinese films!

Chinese and Irish Traditional Music – The Language of The Sound

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Welcome to join us in a unique traditional music tour between Chinese and Irish music

Following the success of the joint Celtic-Chinese performance for the Chinese New Year celebration organised by the Language Centre and BAME & International Staff Network, we are delighted to run a showcase of Chinese and Irish performance for all Queen’s staff, students and the general public, as part of the Development Week Programme at Queen’s.

This showcase and recital will introduce two popular Chinese traditional instruments, Dizi (笛子 dízi) and Guzheng (古筝 gǔzhēng) focusing on the playing techniques, in comparison with the local Irish harp (竖琴 shùqín) and flute (长笛 chángdí) playing practice. We will talk about the historical, social and regional styles and invite the audience to join the discussion, hand-on practice and the playing session.

Zexuan QIAO and Wei DENG performing for the CNY celebration recording at the Great Hall. Images@LiangWANG

Traditional music plays a very important role in people’s life in Ireland. Local people in Northern Ireland not only appreciate their own music, but also the diverse music from a wide range of different cultures, including the Chinese community. Chinese traditional music has been under revival since the early 20th century with a second boom from the 1970s onward.

Date: Saturday 28 May 2022
Time: 2 – 4 pm
Venue: Sonic Arts Research Centre (SARC), Cloreen Park, Belfast BT9 5HN
Full details and registration

Happy International Dance Day

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国际舞蹈日快乐 (Guójì Wǔdǎo Rì kuàilè)！

About the International Dance Day 国际舞蹈日简介

In 1982 the Dance Committee of ITI founded International Dance Day to be celebrated every year on the 29th April, the birthday of Jean-Georges Noverre (1727-1810), creator of modern ballet. The intention of the International Dance Day Message is to celebrate dance, revel in the universality of this art form, cross all political, cultural and ethnic barriers, and bring people together with a common language – dance.

1982年，国际戏剧协会ITI旗下舞蹈委员会成立国际舞蹈日这一艺术节日，日期定在每年的4月29日，这一天也是现代芭蕾之父Jean-Georges Noverre (1727-1810)的诞辰日。 每年的国际舞蹈日都会有一位杰出的舞蹈界人士撰写献辞。献辞的目的在于庆祝舞蹈这一能够跨越政治、文化、种族障碍，能够将人们聚在一起的全球共通的艺术形式。

Internationaldanceday.org
To view the online performances, click the link above in the Quote.

Dancing at Queen’s

Queen’s is a multicultural campus with talented students from local and global areas that are well known for their distinctive cultural life, including dances. Chinese students, the largest international student community at Queen’s, has contributed a lot of fantastic dance performances, enriching the multicultural campus life.

On this special day (29th April), we invite Shiya GU (古诗雅), a talented dancer and currently postgraduate student in Arts Management from School of Arts, English and Languages, to share her life with dancing.

“Thanks to the Arts Management Placement opportunity, I am really fortunate that I’ve been involved in the Youth Dance Company (YDC) Project at the Crescent Arts Centre in Belfast, and it is a great thing to learn from both local and international dancers. I’m looking forward to meeting many more talented dancers coming from outside of Northern Ireland in the future.”

‘I am so lucky and grateful to have been awarded the opportunity to perform and challenge myself in different types of dance. Dancing has been my genuine interest for over 20 years, from curiosity to career, and I have been changing my roles in the field of dance with dedication and passion.’

‘To me, dancing is a belief and a mission for dancers or people who love dancing. No matter where we are, as long as we have our willfulness and willingness, we can always free our bodies through dancing and express what we want.’

In the past, we have also enjoyed many excellent dance performances on campus. Here is a collection of some photos to share the great memory with you. If you have photos of yourselves performing dances or being an audience, feel free to share with us by leaving your message in the reply box below.

  • Photo@LiangWANG
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Eggcellent Easter

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Happy Easter Break! 复活节假期快乐！

Did you buy some eggs or egg-shaped chocolate for Easter? They look so cute and tasty that one can hardly resist the temptation not to buy one.

Chocolate eggs in a supermarket. Image@LiangWANG

But why it has to be eggs or egg-shaped thing during Easter? Here’s the explanation:

‘The egg, an ancient symbol of new life, has been associated with pagan festivals celebrating spring. From a Christian perspective, Easter eggs are said to represent Jesus’ emergence from the tomb and resurrection. Decorating eggs for Easter is a tradition that dates back to at least the 13th century, according to some sources. One explanation for this custom is that eggs were formerly a forbidden food during the Lenten season, so people would paint and decorate them to mark the end of the period of penance and fasting, then eat them on Easter as a celebration.’

History

Besides buying ready-made egg decorations from shops, painting eggs is one of the most popular activities for not only those families with young children, but also others who want to have creative experience with lots of fun during Easter. International student ambassadors from Queen’s recently joined an egg decorating event, organised by AHSS (Faculty of Arts, Humanities and Social Sciences), to celebrate their Easter on campus.

Key words in Chinese

  • 复活节 (Fùhuó jié) – Easter
  • 装饰 (zhuāngshì) – to decorate
  • 绘画 (huìhuà) – to paint
  • 彩绘 (cǎihuì) – colour painting
  • 蛋 (dàn) – egg
  • 巧克力 (qiǎokèlì) – chocolate

How did it go? We invite one of the International Student Ambassadors, Xiuying, to share her experience with you.

Xiuying DENG is currently a postgraduate student in Marketing from Queen’s University Management School. Images@XiuyingDENG

I was so lucky to be invited and it was such an amazing experience! Drawing is not my strong point at all, to be honest, so I felt a bit nervous before getting started. Here I chose to paint a chick at first, which is really out of the ordinary with different colors because it wore a pair of glasses HAHA! Then, I “dressed up” three plastic eggs. As you can see, some were with colored ribbons and some were with small spots.

At the end of the event, we all voted together to see which was the best. Fortunately, I was awarded a souvenir by Queen’s. I felt that my drawing was not that bad. Anyway, it was an unforgettable experience for me to celebrate Easter in the UK, especially with the cohort of 10 lovely student ambassadors!

We hope you have had fun together with us. If you have done your own egg paintings or other decorations, you are very welcome to share your photos here for a collection of ‘eggcellent’ show.

  • Easter bunny and eggs – Image@XiaoxuanXIA

Celebrating Chinese Language Day

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联合国中文节快乐！(Liánhé Guó Zhōngwén jié kuàilè) Happy UN Chinese Language Day!

The Chinese language is one of the six official languages used in the United Nations and together with Arabic, English, French, Russian and Spanish, each of them is designated with a date to ‘celebrate multilingualism and cultural diversity as well as to promote equal use of all six official languages throughout the Organization’.

Celebrating Chinese Language Day at Queen’s, Image@LiangWang

On Wednesday 13th April, just before the university’s Easter closure, The Language Centre organised a small-scale celebration with students – both Chinese and non-Chinese – at the McClay Library, Queen’s University Belfast. This is the first on-campus in-person Chinese event after a two-year-long isolation working from home.

Small but highly interactive with lots of fun, the cohort not only learned about the culture of this special day, but also explored a range of Chinese language resources and platforms in support of intercultural language learning both online and in physical settings.

The third semester language course enrolment remains open until Thursday 21st April. Check Mandarin Chinese course page for more details.

– With Kristoff, Sijie, Guangyan and Jiaqi (from left to right), Image@LiangWang

Call for participation –

  • Event 1 – We would like to hear your interesting stories about experience of using Chinese language in an intercultural context. This can be a Chinese-speaking person helping their international friends or learners of Chinese with the language, in which a misunderstanding or miscommunication took place, or a learner of Chinese encountering various situations when Chinese language was used in a creative but funny way.
  • Event 2 – Chinese and Irish Traditional Music – The Language of The Sound. We warmly welcome you, especially QUB students, to attend the student-led event at Queen’s on Saturday 28/05. Details and registration information will be published soon.
  • Event 3 – We are inviting volunteers to contribute to the Duanwu Festival (Friday 03/06) celebration in a variety of ways. It can be a culture workshop, performance, demo, talent show, photo or short video of your cultural celebration etc., as long as they are interactive and engaging.
  • Regular events – Chinese Culture Forum 2022. While we will do our best to arrange the sessions on topics or issues of potential interest, we are open to suggestions and proposals from you – whether you are a Queen’s staff member, or a student, or a visiting scholar, or a professional from the outside.

You are all welcome to contact us by filling the Reply box (background, proposed topic, ways of delivery, availability, etc.)

One day in London

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Monday 28th March – What an intense and packed day at the UCL Institute of Education for our students Isabella and Caleb from Queen’s Management School, together with Dr Liang Wang from The Language Centre, to help with promoting the University and its International Business with Mandarin Chinese programme, among a cohort of a dozen of universities from the rest of the UK. 

It was great to be in attendance at the UK Schools and Universities Day 2022, sharing details of our offer, listening to what prospective students’ interests and concerns are, and joining in discussions on how to strengthen the ties between schools and universities across the UK in terms of Chinese language provision. As a final year student of International Business with Chinese, Isabella noted that: 

‘I learned a lot about what other universities across the UK were offering in relation to studying Mandarin Chinese, and spoke to staff of universities and schools from whom I understood there is a demand for studying Mandarin at university, particularly in conjunction with other subjects, such as business, sciences, arts, law and other languages.’ 

For any students who are interested in our International Business with Mandarin Chinese programme, please visit the course page.  

Longtaitou Festival

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What’s Longtaitou Festival?

The traditional Chinese Longtaitou (龙抬头 Lóng tái tóu) Festival, or Dragon-Head-Raising Festival, falls on the second day of the second lunar month every year, and recognises the start of spring and farming. This year it falls on 4th March.

Dragon Dance at the Chinese New Year Celebrations at Queen’s in 2020

In Chinese mythology, 龙 (Chinese dragon or coined as Loong), with its connotations for good luck and supreme power, is also the god managing weather and water, bring rainfalls for crops to grow and harvest. So this Longtaitou Festival is mainly about praying for good weather in spring with good rainfalls, the key time for plowing the fields.

Learning Chinese language and culture at Queen’s

3rd Semester Language Course Registration is open and closes promptly at 17:00 on Thursday 21 April 2022. Classes are expected to be extremely popular and fill up quickly, so early registration is strongly recommended.

To register with a Mandarin Chinese course, please follow the course information page for more information with links to registrations.

Mandarin Chinese Courses

2022 Chinese Language Video Festival launched

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‘China Chic’: Chinese Language Video Festival launched to celebrate UN Chinese Language Day

CGTN.COM

The theme this year is “China Chic” – a modern take on traditional Chinese heritage from young people around the world. As China has continued to progress and innovate, unique cultural elements have been adapted to fit the very latest trends, with the younger generation increasingly aware of regional differences.

All non-native Chinese speakers from around the world are invited to submit an original video showcasing the beauty of Chinese traditions and how they are incorporated into the modern world.

Read CGTN for more details.

Translating Friel: ‘The Widowhood System’ (1964) as a Chinese audiobook

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布莱恩.弗里尔的中国式重现——《咕家寡人》剧本朗读与研讨

  • Date: Friday 4th March 2022
  • Time: 18:30 – 19:45 GMT
  • Venue: Brian Friel Theatre, 20 University Square, Queen’s University, Belfast BT7 1NN
  • Language: English/Chinese
  • Booking: Eventbrite (free, but advanced booking essential)

Join us for an audio journey that brings together 1960s Northern Ireland and 21st Century China. Alongside excerpts from the original English version, Chinese Students from the Centre for Translating and Interpreting (CTI) at Queen’s University will narrate a new translated adaptation of Brian Friel’s short story ‘The Widowhood System’. 

The Widowhood System是一个由布莱恩.弗里尔写于二十世纪六十年代的爱尔兰故事。三个嗜酒如命的中年单身汉，为了追逐埋藏于心多年的赛鸽梦，开始了一场堂吉诃德式的养鸽之旅。殊不知，赛鸽的命运和他们的人生产生了奇妙的重合……

大半个世纪后，一群来到贝尔法斯特的中国留学生在故纸堆里发现了这个故事，他们决定用自己的方式把它讲述出来，于是便有了《咕家寡人》。

About this event

What effect does translation have in transporting a story across time and space? When the page is adapted for the stage, what role does a translator play? What happens when a translator, often considered as the one doing the paperwork, leaves their desk to work as a theatre practitioner?

In this script reading and discussion event, co-organized by CTI, Friel Reimagined, and the Brian Friel Theatre, the translator, Chuchu, the music producer, Kehan and the actors will present the original text, the translated work and the procedure of the adaptation— a Chinese audiobook based on the story ‘The Widowhood System’ by the great Irish playwright Brian Friel. With the original text in English, the Chinese voice actors reading the translated version, and the translator sharing the background of the translation and adaptation process, this event aims to provide a unique insight into how a translated play is produced and presented.

活动简介 

翻译，改编，排演，录制一出广播剧是一种怎样的体验？让一群21世纪的中国年轻人讲述一个1960年代的爱尔兰故事，会碰撞出什么奇妙的火花？

此次剧本朗读会，将由音乐制作人可瀚带领来自女王大学口笔译中心，以及计算机学院的中国演员们，呈现《咕家寡人》的部分内容。以舞台表演与原创音效相配合，给大家带来一场跨越时空的听觉盛宴。朗读结束后，译者楚楚将带领大家走进戏剧翻译的台前与幕后，揭秘《咕家寡人》的制作过程。大家也可以畅所欲言，和主创团队分享自己对于故事的感受，提出宝贵建议。

一起来听故事吧！说不定，你能在这个故事里，看到你自己。

Translator Profile 译者简介 

Shurui Yang, aka Chuchu, is a PhD in translation from Center of Translation and Interpreting. Supervised by Prof. David Johnston and Dr. Kathleen Kaess, she mainly focuses on translating Brian Friel’s work from English into Chinese.

杨姝睿（楚楚），女王大学口笔译中心翻译博士在读。师从戏剧翻译家David Johnston教授与Kathleen Kaess博士。主要研究方向为布莱恩·弗里尔的戏剧翻译。

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