The Macao Polytechnic Institute says its Student Affairs Office arranged various activities during the Lunar New Year holidays that were meant to give its students from Portuguese-speaking parts of the world experience of the Lunar New Year traditions that Chinese observe.

The institute issued a written statement saying the activities included hanging lanterns and putting up other traditional decorations, making the type of Chinese dumpling called jiaozi, and a mountain hike.

The statement quotes Laidinha, a Cabo Verdean student of the International Chinese Language Education programme, as commending the ability of the institute to blend Chinese and Western cultures.

It quotes another student of Chinese, Rivaldo, as urging all his lusophone fellow-students to learn about Chinese culture, having himself learned about one particular aspect.

Yet another student, Silvino from São Tomé and Príncipe, is looking forward to completing his studies with top marks, having found out that Chinese traditional interpretation of the lunar calendar foretells good fortune for him this year, the Macao Polytechnic Institute says.