This year, the Chinese New Year Gala of YWIES Shanghai Lingang was truly splendid, a “visual feast" for everyone. The theme of this year's performance was "New Year's Eve Dinner", which expressed the Chinese people's longing for returning to their families no matter if there are thousands of miles away or if they have been gone a long time. Every performance on the stage was excellent, giving the audience a surprise. How wonderful was it? Let's review the show.

Highlights of the Show

The New Year Gala kicked off with a cheerful overture to the Spring Festival, performed by the Primary and Secondary string ensemble. The joy represented the beginning of the New Year "revelry". Chinese New Year brings lit firecrackers during childhood, when you have to cover your ears due to the loud noises. The New Year also brings the couplet posted on the door, with the festival red between the lines. The New Year Gala let everyone feel the full flavour of the new year in the enthusiastic notes of the string performance.

The skit Coming Home was connected to the theme and conveyed the spirit of the show. In the sketch, the students told the story of a phone call from a mother of three children. They were busy in different careers and couldn’t return home for New Year’s Eve dinner, but finally they overcame their problems to regain the warmth of family love and join the reunion dinner. Students displayed the busy state of people in contemporary society, and also expressed the young generation's neglect of family love. The warmth of home is decreasing day by day. This programme once again awakened the "heart" to return home.

Later, the song "Parents' Kindness" also moved the parents. It has always been a virtue of Chinese tradition and one of the outstanding character qualities emphasised at Yew Wah. Deafening drums opened the prelude of “The Soul of China”, the swaying dancing scattered out of the sweet "Jasmine", and "Fengyang Flower Drum" celebrated the harvest of workers. All these excellent performances composed a classic Chinese New Year symphony.

The drama New Year's Eve Dinner brought by the Secondary students let us feel the warmth of being in the Yew Wah family. With the “Blue and White Porcelain” melodious folk music ensemble, the colour flowed intensely, lines drawing on the blue and white porcelain embryo. It was like a dream from a thousand years ago, placing everyone in the dreamlike beauty of classical folk music.

Up and down the vivacious “Gold Mice”, played by a group of lovely students, came to wish all of us a happy New Year! In the form of dance and vocal music, the children gave us funny shows like "Making Rice Cakes", "Big Bowl of Thick Noodles" and "What's in the Green Leafy Vegetables", revealing the Chinese people's special feelings about the relationship between food and the taste of the Spring Festival.

The closing show The Splendid Culture Never Ends let everyone remember the prosperous Tang dynasty. Teachers and parents dressed in traditional clothing, accompanied by melodious music, showing our nation's unique artistic beauty.

This grand performance received the applause from the audience and well-deserved praise! Whether it was dance, drama, singing, or playing instruments, they all presented the diversified performance skills of Yew Wah students, as well as their enthusiasm. The visual feast permeated with a strong traditional Chinese flavour, and was a call to the heart of the traveller, reminding us to return home for the family reunion and to share this beautiful vision!