Corporate Communications

Low vision version of page

The University of Bradford will celebrate Chinese New Year with a difference this week after latest figures revealed that the University attracts more students from China than any other country.

Over 500 students will be celebrating Chinese New Year at the University of Bradford, almost double the number of students last year. International recruitment trends show that this is an amazing jump from 1999, when the University welcomed just six Chinese students to Bradford.

A celebration will be held at the University's Small Hall, Richmond Building, at 6.30pm on Friday to mark the official start of Chinese New Year.

Head of the International Office Haydn Bartlett said: "Over the last few years, China has been one of the University's priority countries in terms of student recruitment and Bradford has been particularly successful in attracting high calibre students. We now have students from around 90 different countries. This means that we have a great deal of experience of working and socialising with people from a variety of different cultures."

New overseas student intakes (undergraduate and postgraduate) have increased from 613 students to 877 giving the University a total overseas student population of 1339 students, a 47% increase compared with last year.

In 2001, the University demonstrated its commitment to further international collaboration after signing a formal agreement with Heilongjiang University, in China. In 2002, representatives from the University attended a high-profile recruitment exhibition in the Chinese capital of Beijing. The University was invited to participate in the "Promotion of Top-Flight Universities from Abroad" event as part of the fifth China Beijing International High-Tech Expo.

Notes for Editors

This year, Chinese New Year is on 1 February. It marks the first day in the Year of the Goat (black sheep).

The festival celebrates the earth coming back to life when ploughing and sowing can begin, so food plays an important part.

Preparations for the New Year festival start during the last few days of the last moon. Houses are thoroughly cleaned, debts repaid, hair cut and new clothes bought. Doors are decorated with vertical scrolls of characters on red paper whose texts seek good luck and praise nature, this practice stemming from the hanging of peach-wood charms to keep away ghosts and evil spirits. In many homes incense is burned, and also in the temples as a mark of respect to ancestors.

On New Year's Eve houses are brightly lit and a large family dinner is served. In the south of China sticky-sweet glutinous rice pudding called nian gao is served, while in the north the steamed dumpling jiaozi is popular. Most celebrating the festival stay up till midnight, when fireworks are lit, to drive away evil spirits. New Year's day is often spent visiting neighbours, family and friends.

The public holiday for New Year lasts three days in China, but the festival traditionally lasts till the 15th day of the lunar month and ends with the 'Lantern Festival'. Here, houses are decorated with colourful lanterns, and yuanxioa, a sweet or savoury fried or boiled dumpling made of glutinous rice flour is eaten.

For further media information, please contact Rachael Ellis in Corporate Communications on (01274) 233084/0787 9437986 or Emma Scales on (01274) 233089. Alternatively, e-mail press@bradford.ac.uk or fax on (01274) 235460.

Latest news | Archive