Chinese New Year

2021 marks the Chinese Year of the Ox – or in a unique Scottish twist – the Year of the Coo. Chinese New Year in Edinburgh has become the largest celebration of its kind in…

Canadian contemporary artist Ian Kirkpatrick brings his playful, life-size fusion of Highland Coo and Chinese Ox to Edinburgh’s Royal Mile, as part of a special commission for Edinburgh’s Chinese New Year celebrations. Ian’s work explores the…

Landscape, Shan Shui, literally translated as ‘mountain and water’, is one of the most popular subjects in Chinese painting. Explore Chinese soft brush and ink techniques and the world of mountain and water painting in…

This summer Confucius Institute for Scotland in the University of Edinburgh is offering both Day and Evening classes.  Our diverse programme of evening and day time classes aims to give students a wide array of…

Chinese calligraphy is one of the earliest and most important visual art form in China. Explore Chinese soft brush and ink techniques and learn Chinese calligraphy in regular scripts (kaishu) in this five weeks short…

Cycling route: 7.5km; allow 2-3 hours. On this easy-going cycling trail, you will explore Edinburgh’s historic New Town and Edinburgh’s Royal Botanic Gardens, currently host to an art installation for Chinese New Year. Throw in…

Walking route: 2.5 miles; Easy going. Allow 2 hours. Chiang Yee (b:1933; d:1977) was a Chinese poet, author, painter and calligrapher. He spent time in Edinburgh in 1943 and lived in Marchmont. He was ‘dazzled’…

Celebrating the arrival of the Year of the Ox, Kimho Ip and Filip Davidse combined the sounds of the traditional Chinese yangqin and saxophone to create inter-cultural dialogues that reflect the nuances between Chinese and…

The East Asian calendar uses a unique system to measure and mark the passing of time. In this short animation from the National Museum of Scotland, discover the twelve animals in the Chinese zodiac and…

With your Chinese dragon guide, Dàhăi, learn how to say colours in Mandarin, explore the museum collections virtually and create your own Chinese object card. This resource from National Museums Scotland is aimed at Primary 5-7…

In China, the mythical Qilin creature is carved into stone sculptures, animated on lacquer art, painted on porcelain and described in poetry and literature. But what exactly is a Qilin? Find out all about this…