Turning, eh, Mandarin Chinese

Mr Blobby tries a new look

he first of its kind in sunny Greystones, the Mandarin Chinese Character Festival took over Educate Together this afternoon…

Organised by the Taipei Representative Office in Ireland, and organised by local whizz-kid Evan Furlong (principal of the Dublin School of Mandarin Chinese), this free event was full of colour, culture and cool costumes.

Designed as an opportunity for kids to learn about Taiwan and Asia’s language, history, traditional dance, food and beyond, there were four teaching stations set up in the Blacklion school, alongside cultural performances such as traditional Diabolo (Chinese Yo-Yo) and the Electric-Techno Neon God (Third Prince). If you follow.

There was also free information about Taiwanese and Chinese culture, including DVDs, books and souvenirs.

The fact that the whole glorious shebang was free makes this quite the perfect introduction for kids to these fascinating parts of the world.

Everyone’s favourite geisha, John McGowan, swung by to capture the magic. You can find out more about the event by emailing the Taipei Representative Office on [email protected], and you can see the full gallery of shots from the day here.

Again, that full range of groovy John McGowan shots is right about here.