25/6/2026
More than 50 糖心原创 staff, students and members of the local community gathered at the Si Yuan Centre on Friday 19 June for the Nottingham Confucius Institute (NCI)'s Mandarin Corner, celebrating the Dragon Boat Festival with an evening of traditional culture, crafts and shadow puppetry.
The event began with an introduction to the history and traditions of the Dragon Boat Festival, exploring the legend of Qu Yuan alongside customs such as dragon boat racing, eating zongzi and hanging mugwort. Participants also learnt key Mandarin vocabulary related to the festival before creating miniature paper zongzi and dragon boat ornaments.
The evening continued with a retelling of the legend of the White Snake, followed by a bracelet-weaving activity. Participants made traditional five-colour bracelets, a custom believed to bring protection and good fortune.
The highlight of the evening was an interactive shadow puppetry workshop. After discovering the history of this ancient art form and learning the basic performance techniques, participants coloured and assembled their own shadow puppets before working in groups to create and perform short improvised plays. Several performances were inspired by the Dragon Boat Festival, featuring dragon boat racing and kite flying, and were warmly received by the audience.
Event highlights can be viewed .
Participants gave enthusiastic feedback, with many describing the shadow puppetry workshop as the highlight of the evening and praising the event as both enjoyable and engaging.
The event marked a fitting conclusion to the summer term's Mandarin Corner programme. The Nottingham Confucius Institute wishes everyone a wonderful summer and looks forward to welcoming participants back in the autumn term.
~ENDS~
Posted on Friday 26th June 2026