2008 Year of the Rat Celebration
On 10th(Sunday) and 11th(Monday) February the Federation of Chinese Associations of Manchester organised a two-day event to celebrate the arrival of the Chinese New Year of the Rat. On Sunday it was an outdoor activity and Monday a gala dinner. This year the outdoor activity covered areas doubled that of last year. Mr Stewart Yip, Chairman of FCAM, stated that this was the requirement of the Manchester City Council. According to official statistics the people who came to Manchester Chinatown to watch the new year celebration was on the increase every year. The figure for this year was expected to be over 60,000. For the safety and better entertainment of the spectators Manchester City Council authorised additional grounds for the activity. Hence a stage each was set up in the NCP Carpark in Chinatown and in the Albert Square in front of the City Hall. Temporary display stands were also erected on the streets immediately joining the Carpark and in the Square. In addition there were two large marquees put up for the Exhibition of Beijing Olympics Photos and Chinese Arts and Crafts Workshop in which young spectators could have hands-on learning of Chinese calligraphy, origami, listen to Chinese folk tales, colouring the characters in these tales, enjoy the fun of playing Tangrams. The Workshop was so popular that the teaching materials were soon running out so children were encouraged to share each set of materials among three of them to avoid disappointment. Many parents suggested that there should be more workshops of similar nature to encourage children learning Chinese culture.On the entertainment performances Chairman Yip was glad to have invited the Art Troupe from Bury’s twin city Datong in Shangxi Province of China as the main act. Other professional performing groups included Master Chu Martial Art School, JinLong Martial Arts Academy, Red Fan Dance Society, London Acrobat Troupe and a UK born and bred songwriter Will Tang to perform numbers from his new album. Amateur performers saw students of All Saints School and Chinese Language Schools sang a melodic song 'Jasmine' in mandarin. The concept behind this year’s performance invitations is to encourage participation from the national, regional, local, mainstream and Chinese community levels so as to achieve the purpose of Cultural Awareness, Acceptance and Accord.
First Vice-chairman Mr Tyze Li MBE added that this was so far the year that received the most support and sponsorship from friendly organisations and volunteers, furthermore with the widest publicity; besides BBC, Granada, Channel M, MEN and PCNE from last year BBC Cardiff and British Production Corporation also wrote to request for the right of reportage. He concluded that this wide media attention was the proof of recognition by UK's mainstream society and that FCAM would always keep up its good work. Mr Li would like to take this opportunity to thank via Sing Tao News the support FCAM received and hope that every year the celebration activities would excel over the previous.
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