“Charm of Chinese New Year”: Children’s Animated Short Video Shows

These animated videos bring a youthful energy to the Spring Festival celebrations! All videos were created by young animators from the National Academy of Chinese Theatre Arts. Let’s take a look which folk customs they explore.

Beijing Thirteen Popular Ice & Snow Games

Traditional ice and snow activities popular on Shichahai Lake in Beijing include tug-of-war on ice, making a snowman, ice-skating near Yinding Bridge, ice dragon boat, ice golf, snowball rolling and more! The video depicts two kids as they experience these thirteen games with their friends during an ice and snow carnival on icy Shichahai Lake.

Welcome the Year of the Tiger

According to traditional Chinese customs, people worship the God of Fortune on the fifth day on the first lunar month to pray for wealth and happiness in the new year. In this video, made in the style of woodcut New Year pictures, the God of  Fortune finds that his ride – a tiger – has wandered away. The god must search everywhere to retrieve the tiger.

“Secrets” Hidden in the Painting Ice Play

Ice Play is a painting depicting the grand scene of royal ice games and performances in the time of Emperor Qianlong (1736-1796) during the Qing dynasty. This video allows the audience to “walk into” the painting and explore the cultural secrets behind the scene, like modern ice sports and traces of Peking Opera culture.