Chinese New Year (Year of the Ox)

In the year 11 Pathway to Success program students where given the opportunity to explore the top 7 lucky Chinese New Year foods including; fish, dumplings, spring rolls, sweet rice balls (termed Tangyuan in Chinese). They also explored the symbolism in Chinese culture related to the traditional Chinese New Year being celebrated on Friday 12th February.

Students were surprised by the symbolism of fish in Chinese cuisine; “fish” in the Chinese language sounds very similar to “surplus” thus symbolising great prosperity. Another popular food they discussed was dumplings which are made from minced meat and finely chopped vegetables wrapped in a thin and elastic dough skin. This food has more than 1,800 years of history and symbolises bringing wealth and treasure to those who make and eat them.

Students were then instructed in how to make paper fortune cookies. The symbolism of the colour red and yellow in China was highlighted as they cut and folded their paper fortune cookies while adding a special wish inside to be randomly chosen and opened by students on Friday.