University celebrates Chinese Culture Week

Chinese Culture Week will get underway last Friday with a ceremony in Jordanstown marking the official launch of the Confucius Institute at the University of Ulster.

An array of events have also been taking place in the University’s four campuses in Belfast, Jordanstown, Coleraine and Magee from April 14 and also in Lisburn, Carrickfergus, Stormont and Belfast City Hall.

Dean of the Faculty of the Arts, Professor Pól Ó Dochartaigh revealed: “Last September, we were delighted to announce that the University of Ulster had been chosen to establish a Confucius Institute in conjunction with Zhejiang University of Media and Communications in south east China.

“The Confucius Institute at the University of Ulster (CIUU) is a hugely significant development – providing a resource that our education system, businesses, government, arts and cultural organisations can tap into as they forge relationships with counterparts in China.

“Chinese Culture Week will officially launch the Confucius Institute at the University of Ulster but we hope of the array of events will give people a taste of the country’s rich culture and help them develop an appetite for more knowledge about China.”

The festival has featured lectures, musical recitals, Chinese culinary arts and gymnastics displays at a number of venues on and off campus.

There have also been music recitals and culinary events on the Belfast and Magee campuses with one earmarked for the Coleraine campus this Thursday.

The week of events will close with an invited dinner on the Coleraine campus on Friday where CIUU’s headquarters will be based.