Chinese Culture Festival held in Chicago after 4-year hiatus

The seventh Annual Chinese Culture Festival, co-hosted by Chicago Public Schools and Phoenix Tree Publishing, the North American subsidiary of Beijing Language and Culture University Press, took place at Whitney Young Magnet High School, Chicago, on Saturday.

This event marked the festival's return after a hiatus due to the COVID-19 pandemic. Running from 10 am to 2 pm, it attracted over 1,300 participants, including students, parents, and teachers from more than 20 schools across the CPS.

Notable attendees included Wang Baodong, consul general of Consulate-General of the People's Republic of China in Chicago, Karime Asaf, the chief officer of the Multilingual-Multicultural Education Office of CPS, and Rickey Harris, the principal of Whitney Young Magnet High School.

In his remarks, Wang underscored the event's role in enhancing mutual understanding between US and Chinese people, saying that cultural exchange is vital for fostering harmony, coexistence, and mutual development.

Chicago Public Schools, the third-largest school district in the United States, has 13,737 students across 37 schools participating in the World Language Program to study Chinese, supported by over 50 Chinese language teachers.

Jane Lu, the program's coordinator, said that due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the annual Chinese Culture Festival had been on hiatus for four years. This year, it has been finally brought back, offering students and their families an opportunity to delve into Chinese culture, she said.

The festival featured a wide array of activities, including lion dances, martial arts demonstrations, and various other artistic performances. More than 20 interactive booths showcased aspects of Chinese culture such as calligraphy, Peking Opera masks, tai chi, and Chinese cuisine, providing attendees with a rich and immersive cultural experience.

Since its founding in 2011, Phoenix Tree Publishing has been supporting Chinese language and cultural education in K-12 schools across North America. Alongside providing professional international Chinese educational resources, the publishing house actively promotes cultural exchanges between Chinese and American students.