Ukrainian guests join Chinese New Year celebrations in Cambridge

Dr Olenka Pevny, a University of Cambridge lecturer, was among Ukrainian guests invited to St Matthew’s Church for Chinese New Year celebrations on Sunday.

The group, which meets each year to celebrate Chinese New Year, includes many visiting scholars from China. This is the first year that international participants were invited.

At the new year event on January 22 Huan Liang, director of Exue International, greeted the guests, saying “Welcome to our friends from Ukraine” and the dancing began.

Dr Pevny, a lecturer in pre-modern East Slavic culture at the University of Cambridge, thanked the organisers for the invitation and gave Huan Liang, director of Exue International, a box of chocolates from the city of Lviv in Ukraine. The recipes for the chocolates date back hundreds of years.

Dr Pevny said: “As you know it has been a difficult year for us as Ukrainians but we are very happy to be here today joining this important celebration with you.”

Ukrainian refugee Elizabeth Dehtiar sang a Ukrainian song and finished to applause. She followed this, to everyone’s delight, with a Chinese tune.

“The Chinese community welcomed the Ukrainians and showed great generosity and warmth,” noted Rend Platings of Mums4Ukraine.