Vox Pop: Chinese Cultural Day

To mark the end of the major 'One Million Days in China' exhibition this month, the Burrell Collection played host to a fabulous Chinese Cultural Day.

Musicians, artists, mask-makers and dancers joined forces to show the enthusiastic Glasgow public how to celebrate Chinese New Year in style. Scotland Is The Place enjoyed the festivities...

Kim Ho, Hong Kong

"I've been in Scotland five years now. I studied my PhD here at Edinburgh University. When I first came to Scotland I thought, very nice scenery, very nice natural landscape and very nice people. I'm actually working as a composer here now, so hopefully I'll have a chance to explore various things in Scotland."

Anne-Marie Culhane, Newcastle

"I'm from Leicestershire and I live in Newcastle but I lived in Scotland for about ten years. I first came up to Scotland because a very good friend of mine was living here and we opened an art gallery in Edinburgh, Out of the Blue, which later spawned the Bongo Club."

Ting Yong Pan, China

"I came to Scotland in 1998. My wife, she's a scientist and she works here so I followed her to join my family. I didn't know what to expect. The people I met here and the atmosphere here, I think is wonderful. I have been teaching people how to write in Chinese characters. I do the course for the people interested in Chinese culture. You'd never know but lots of Scottish people are interested in this."

Robert Spark, Ayrshire

"We came for a chance to see some Chinese culture. We visited the Tramway last month for the end of Ramadan and that was good, so we brought my two year old up to see some Chinese dragons and a wee bit of music and dancing. I think when you come to a place like this you see the cultural diversity and the openness that Scottish people have to cultural diversity."

Helen Kwok, Hong Kong

"I have visited Scotland twice. The weather is very, very different to Hong Kong. I think that the fresh air here is very good and it smells very good. I am a choir conductor in Hong Kong and I teach children to sing. I will come back to Scotland."

Emma Cassidy and Shannon and Mia Stevenson, Scotland

Shannon: "Mine's a mask of the rat. I chose rat because that's my date of birth, 1996. Rats scuttle and say eek eek eek."

Emma: "My mask is a tiger."

Mia: "My mask is a monkey. Monkeys are brown but I wanted to do a coloured monkey."

Gerar de Rooney, Glasgow

"The lion dance is based on the traditional story of the lion. I got involved because between health and learning, I wanted to achieve something, master something. It's not just the lion dances – it's Kung Fu, medicine, and there's quite a lot of culture and language as well. It's very interesting."

Iain Paterson, Paisley

"I've been doing Kung Fu since I was about eighteen. My interest started watching films like Jackie Chan and Bruce Lee. I'm the back and the front of the lion – we chop and change. It's good to see everybody applauding and quite excited about it. Some kids are quite frightened when they see it at first but after a wee while they get used to it."

Emma Leighton, Glasgow

"My great grandfather was a policeman in Shanghai and so, growing up, hearing his stories, that was the beginning of my fascination with China. Through the exhibition I've built so many bridges with the Chinese community – everything from the Chinese youth groups, elderly centres, the Chinese school, the Chinese Christian Church. There's an amazing celebration of Chinese culture in Glasgow. We have 10,000 Chinese in Glasgow alone."

Thanks to Emma Leighton, Curator of Chinese and Oriental Civilisations, and everyone at the Burrell Collection for their hospitality. Find out more about current exhibitions and events at the Burrell Collection by visiting www.glasgowmuseums.com