American students try Chinese calligraphy during a Chinese Lantern Festival celebration at the Chinese Consulate General in Los Angeles, California, the United States, on Feb. 12, 2025. Calligraphy, lantern-making, paper cutting, making dumplings and eating Tangyuan (glutinous rice balls) -- more than 100 American students and educators from four schools in Southern California were invited to experience Chinese culture on Wednesday at a pleasant Lantern Festival celebration hosted by the Chinese Consulate General in Los Angeles. (Photo by Qiu Chen/Xinhua)

Calligraphy, lantern-making, paper cutting, making dumplings and eating Tangyuan (glutinous rice balls) -- more than 100 American students and educators from four schools in Southern California were invited to experience Chinese culture on Wednesday at a pleasant Lantern Festival celebration hosted by the Chinese Consulate General in Los Angeles.

The Lantern Festival indicates the end of Spring Festival celebrations. The Spring Festival, also known as Chinese New Year or Lunar New Year, marks the start of a new year in China.

Chinese Consul General in Los Angeles Guo Shaochun introduced China's Spring Festival culture to the young American friends, noting that the Spring Festival has become a public holiday in nearly 20 countries, a window for the world to perceive China, and a bridge for mutual learning among different civilizations.

In September 2022, California became the first to recognize Lunar New Year as an official state holiday in the United States. In December 2024, the Spring Festival was officially included in the list of Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity by the United Nations Educational, Scientific and Cultural Organization.

"It's a fun holiday," one student named Kathleen told Xinhua. "Kind of like our Thanksgiving, Christmas and New Year's rolled into one."

The holiday period is a time when families travel great distances to reunite, eat together and ring in the New Year with blessings, harmony and new clothes.

With the Consulate assembly hall decorated with festive ornaments, guests from Southern California schools were seated around colorful tables and invited to enjoy a traditional Chinese holiday meal.

Students were shown how to make traditional dumplings by placing a spoonful of filling in a small wheat pancake then folding them up into their signature pleated, half-moon shapes to be boiled or stir-fried.

Two young women performed a dance duet in diaphanous Chinese robes, followed by a four-person team that demonstrated a choreographed Kung Fu fan technique using vibrant red fans that they flicked open and shut with explosive snaps.

In his remarks, Consul General Guo encouraged American friends to visit China more often, immerse themselves in its culture, and gain a deeper, more comprehensive understanding of the country.

"I'm glad to hear the teachers and students share their stories of learning Chinese language and culture. And some expressed their wishes to visit China," he said.

"Last year, we embarked on the implementation of the initiative of 'inviting 50,000 American youths in 5 years' with encouraging results. Over 16,000 American young people visited China for exchanges and study. And, California tops number 1 in numbers among all the states," Guo added.

Carmen, a young student at the Geffen Academy at UCLA, a university-affiliated school for students in grades six to 12, won one of the prizes by reeling off the 12 animals in the Chinese Zodiac, in Mandarin, without a hitch.

"I love learning about Chinese culture, because of its richness and uniqueness," Carmen told Xinhua. "It's so different from our culture that it helps expand my sense of the world we live in."

"It was an unparalleled opportunity," said Caleb Miller, director of technology, drama teacher at the St. Paul High School.

He had led a group of students to China where they visited many iconic sights and played basketball with their Chinese counterparts.

"This cultural exchange fostered mutual respect, appreciation, and a deeper bond between young people from different parts of the world," Miller said.

He told Xinhua that the Chinese had been gracious, warm, and hospitable, whether in schools, on basketball courts, or during cultural activities.

"We hope that more opportunities for such exchanges will arise in the future, allowing us to continue learning from one another and growing together," he added.

Anderson, another student from the Geffen Academy at UCLA, who is part Chinese, said he was drawn to study Mandarin and Chinese culture because of all the incredible stories his grandparents had told him.

"It made me want to connect to them and their original culture even more," he said.

All the students expressed eagerness to visit the wonders of China as soon as they can.

"I can't wait to visit China! Their culture has been around so long - like thousands of years longer than ours," student Jennifer told Xinhua. "There must be a lot of wisdom we can learn from a culture that has survived so long."

"We also encourage more young people from China to visit the U.S. and experience the charms of this beautiful country too. Together we will work on promoting China-U.S. people-to-people exchanges and our friendship," Consul General Guo noted. 

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