HAPPY New Year.

Students from Huddersfield University’s Chinese and Vietnamese society celebrated the Spring Festival yesterday.

Fireworks, kung fu and the ancient tradition of a lion dance helped mark the year of the dragon..

The Spring Festival signals the start of the lunar calendar, which still determines holidays for China, Vietnam, Japan and India.

The start of the new year is based on the patterns of the moon and this year it fell on January 23.

President of the Chinese Society Sheng Yue Zeng said: “We wanted to show other students at the university a little bit of our culture and wanted them to share in the Spring Festival experience.

“We have 600 members in the Chinese society and as the university’s rank is increasing so does the amount of international students.

“This is the first year that we have had the celebration with the Vietnamese society and we have a fantastic partnership.

“We had stalls all day, which had food such as dumplings and also sold Chinese knots and lanterns.

“At the society, we work hard to honour our traditions and we also celebrate Chinese Valentines Day, Mid-Autumn Day and the Lantern Festival.”

The society had also organised a talent show, which took place at Huddersfield Town Hall last night.

Professional Chinese acts danced and performed acrobatics – with the winner taking home £200 in travel vouchers.

The audience was made up of students and members of Chinese societies from other universities, including Manchester.

It was organised because in China, families gather to watch a TV talent show on the eve of the spring festival.

President of the Vietnamese Society Xuan Le said: “We now have around 40 members in the Vietnamese society and we have really enjoyed the Spring Festival.

“We have shown some of our traditional foods such as fresh spring rolls, square cake, soup and green beans.

“We performed a bamboo dance, which is customary for celebrations in Vietnam.

“We are so happy at the number of people who have got involved in the day and we would like to thank everybody for their help and hospitality.”

At 5pm yesterday, vice-chancellor Bob Cryan delivered a speech and set off the firework display.

Dean of International Development Professor David Taylor said that the number of international students has rapidly increased.

He said: “International students bring their culture to the university which also allows the local students to enjoy a diverse experience.

“In a survey of 48,000 students done last summer, Huddersfield University was rated number one.

“The things that attract international students are the same as what attracts British students, our specialisms, sandwich courses, close links with industry and vocational training.”

The Spring Festival was put together by the events management students, who incorporated it into their coursework.

A video of the fireworks and lion dance can be seen online at www.examiner.co.uk