DRAGONS and dancers from the Reading Chinese School welcomed in the Year of the Sheep.

The celebrations on Sunday, saw students from the school in Emmer Green, put on a performance in front of 400 guests.

As part of the celebrations, art workshops began at noon, with visitors enjoying origami and calligraphy classes.

The performance, starting at 1pm, was the equivalent to Shakespeare’s, Romeo and Juliet.

Dr Yan Liu, headteacher of Reading Chinese School, said: “We had a lot of people coming to the event who were not Chinese but were interested in our culture which was great. I am so so pleased that it attracted so many people, because it is part of our culture to be welcoming and inclusive.”

Chinese New Year is similar to Christmas and it symbolises the beginning of Spring.

Dr Liu said: “Because we are here and we are far away from our families it is very important for people in the area to be together to celebrate our culture.”

Guests included the Mayor of Reading, Tony Jones, Reading West MP, Alok Sharma, and Sir John Madejski.

Reading Chinese School has been established for more than 30 years and aims to provide education in Chinese languages and culture for children and adults of all backgrounds.

Currently the school has 200 children and provides education from five years and up, including GCSEs and A Levels.

For more information visit http://www.readingchineseschool.ik.org/.