Students of the Wellington East Girls' School learn dragon dance techniques in a Confucius Class in Wellington on Feb 16, 2018. [Photo/Chinaculture.org]

The Confucius Class of the Wellington East Girls' School held a special activity Feb 16 to teach students dragon and lion dances.

The activity, a part of the 2018 Happy Chinese New Year celebrations in the country, was held to help New Zealand youngsters — especially those of Chinese descent — better learn about Chinese folk customs and traditional Chinese culture.

Zhang Deqing, an acrobatic teacher from the acrobatic troupe of Northeast China's Heilongjiang province, together with Vincent Lin, a teacher of dragon and lion dances from the China Cultural Center in New Zealand, instructed a team of more than 30 schoolgirls to perform dragon and lion dances, two important Chinese New Year customs.