The College held its 2025 New Year Gala at the Auditorium on Haidian Campus on the evening of 27 December.
Nearly a hundred attendees, including the College leadership, faculty members, current postgraduate students, and their friends and families, gathered to celebrate the festive occasion. The gala was hosted by Dr. Jiang Feng’an alongside students Zhang Yaodong, Dong Ruonan and Yang Tingqi.
Prior to the official start, the audience enjoyed a heartwarming video featuring New Year greetings from Class of 2024 postgraduate students and fellow students studying abroad. The creative and heartfelt messages set a warm and joyful tone for the evening. Dean Xie Zhiyong then delivered opening remarks, reviewing the college’s achievements over the past year in faculty development and the training of legal professionals for foreign-related affairs. He encouraged all faculty and students to remain united and driven in the new year, striving for even greater accomplishments.
The gala opened with a dynamic dance performance of Whiplash by students Shen Xinyu, Zuo Qiqi and Du Siyuan from the School of International Law, and Wei Xinyi from the Guangming School of Journalism and Communication. Their energetic choreography and vibrant music instantly ignited the crowd. Next, student Wang Tianyi captivated the audience with a soulful Cantonese rendition of Under the Mount Fuji. Professor Xie Libin delivered a humorous stand-up performance titled How to Take the Elevator at CUPL 2.0, hilariously capturing scenes from everyday campus life. Students Yang Meiyu, Sun Siyitong and Ma Wen performed the emotional song Last Dance, evoking deep connections between people through melody. Dr. Xu Zhiren’s German song Kleine Kinder, kleine Sorgen brought back fond memories of childhood, while student Dai Donglai’s flute performance of Old Dreams Need Not Be Remembered carried a sense of timeless nostalgia and tender longing.
The programme continued with a Tibetan dance, Heavenly Bath, which vividly depicted the purity and beauty of Tibetan culture. A touching performance of the song Love Song conveyed messages of hope and strength through its gentle melody. Du Jiaqi’s bilingual Japanese-Chinese performance of Holding Hands warmed the room and elevated the evening to a new emotional peak. Class of 2024 students presented a multilingual version of The Brightest Star in the Night Sky, singing in Italian, Japanese, German, French, Spanish and English, offering a beautiful fusion of romance and inspiration across languages. Student Yang Meiyu’s guitar-accompanied song Contentment reminded everyone to appreciate and be grateful for the present amidst life’s hustle.
As the evening drew to a close, student Du Jiaqi and the entire Class of 2024 Ph.D. cohort performed the heartfelt group song Tomorrow Will Be Better, sending sincere blessings and hopeful visions for 2025.
As a special guest, Chair of the College Council Gu Yongqiang delivered closing remarks on behalf of the College, extending New Year wishes to all faculty and students. He introduced the ‘Three Precautions’, fire safety, emotional well-being, and avoiding overexertion, encouraging everyone to maintain balance and resilience while embracing the new year with renewed energy and responsibility.
The gala also featured a carefully planned raffle, with 1 first prize, 9 second prizes, and 19 third prizes awarded, adding excitement and joy to the festivities while conveying the college’s warm wishes for good fortune in the year ahead.
Co-organised by the College Postgraduate Student Union and Faculty Union, and supported by the entire academic community, the gala showcased the vibrant, positive spirit of both faculty and students. As they enter 2025, the college looks forward to continued unity and collective progress, striving toward greater heights and new milestones in the coming year.
