The fifth Chinese Corner was hosted by our student ambassador, Molly Wolyn. The activity was about Chinese Opera (戏曲) and Beijing Opera masks (京剧脸谱).

The first half of the activity consisted of a presentation on the history of Beijing Opera and the meaning of the colored masks worn by the characters featured onstage. Afterward, we invited attendees to take what they have learned from the presentation and paint their own masks. We offered a multitude of different masks shapes at our activity, such as the fox face, the wide faced human, or the skinny-faced human. Once they decided on which mask they wanted to paint, they were given a collection of Beijing Opera mask designs to draw inspiration from. While some students followed the provided templates, other students decided to paint their own unique and creative designs.

Finally, after everyone had finished painting their masks and were ready for wearing, the Chinese Flagship Instagram (@hichineseflagship) hosted a popularity poll, asking followers to vote for their favorite designs. The attendee with the most votes, Noelani Ramon – who made a beautiful fox mask decorated with lotus flower theming, embellished with a symmetrical design using predominantly red and green colors (bottom right) – was given the honor of being the face of the CLFC Instagram profile picture for a week.