Confucius Institute at Phuket Makes a Wonderful Debut at 9th Kathu Street Cultural Festival

From July 7th to 9th, the 9th Kathu Street Cultural Festival was celebrated in Kathu of Phuket. Over ten institutions from countries such as Thailand, China, Myanmar, Singapore, Japan and the Republic of Korea attended the event. The Confucius Institute at Phuket of Prince of Songkla University attended the exhibition as the only Chinese delegate being invited. More than ten thousand locals watched the Confucius Institute’s cultural parade and art performances, and many of them also experienced Chinese culture by taking part in the activities provided at the booths of the Confucius Institute.

As a tradition, a grand float parade was held at the opening ceremony of the festival. Dressed in colorful ethnic costumes, 12 teachers of the Confucius Institute were led by a float placed with the flag of China and marched forward along the main street of Kathu. The phalanx with flamboyant Chinese ethnic costumes was so eye-catching among all the 50-odd processions, making itself a splendid scene.

At the opening ceremony, the Confucius Institute gave extraordinary art performances to the locals. The Peking Opera Ode to Pear Blossom and its accompanying elegant fan dances showcased Chinese elements; the performance of Chinese kung fu which combined both hardness and softness brought down the house, and the dazzling Nanquan and Tai Chi Fan performances entertained all audience.

Ode to Pear Blossom

Experience activities at the booths of the Confucius Institute such as the Suzhou embroidery, tea art ceremony, Chinese calligraphy and Chinese painting were warmly received by the locals. After experiencing the Chinese calligraphy activities, Lin Ping (Transliteration), a Chinese-Thai, expressed that whenever she encountered Chinese characters, she felt like meeting her family, so she decided to further her study by enrolling in a Chinese calligraphy course organized by the Confucius Institute. The booths of paper-cutting, Chinese knots and facial make-up in opera attracted a lot of children. They learned from the teachers of the Confucius Institute and felt satisfied with their works.

A child in Thai costume experiencing Chinese calligraphy

A Thai student photographing a tea art ceremony display

Experiencing paper-cutting

What’s worth mentioning is that the Confucius Institute established a booth for Chinese food for the first time this year and invited a pastry chef from China to coach the volunteer teachers. They prepared traditional Chinese food with imprinted symbol of the Confucius Institute such as snow skin moon cakes, pastry desserts, yolk pastries, fried chop rice cakes, sugarcoated haws on a stick, plum juice and crystal herbal jelly, which were well-received by the locals and tourists. The audience also made moon cakes on spot. After tasting the snow skin moon cakes on her own, Dr. Pranee Sakulpipatana, Honorary Consul of Nepal, highly praised the activities held by the Confucius Institute and commented that such Chinese food culture experience was enjoyable, delicious and interesting.

The Chinese pastry booth

The food booth attracting many people

Pastries with imprinted symbol of the Confucius Institute at Phuket

Exquisitely-made biscuits with imprinted symbol of the Confucius Institute at Phuket

Snow skin moon cakes with imprinted symbol of the Confucius Institute at Phuket

Teeraphol Thipjaroen, Phuket Provincial Police Commander tasting the desserts offered by the Confucius Institute

The Staff of a TV station shooting

Chaveerad Kasatesuntorn, Deputy Minister of the Ministry of Culture of Thailand, Norrapat Plodtong, Governor of Phuket Province, Teeraphol Thipjaroen, Phuket Provincial Police Commander, Chaianan Suttikun, Mayor of Kathu, and Worawut, Vice President of Prince of Songkhla University visited the booths of the Confucius Institute at Phuket on the day of the opening ceremony. They spoke highly of the efforts made by the Confucius Institute in co-organizing the event, and showed strong interest in the projects of experiencing Chinese culture. Multiple local media including Thailand’s Nation TV covered the activities of the Confucius Institute.

Story by Rao Xiaochuan; photos by Zhou Chengrui, Rao Xiaochuan,Sun Yidan and others