Although red lanterns have decorated the streets of Manchester city centre for a few weeks now, this weekend was when the city really came to life with the celebrations for Chinese New Year. Today we hear from Bali Lee, one of our second year students in the Faculty of Life Sciences, who explains that in a city as vibrant and diverse as Manchester, it can make an international holiday feel like home.

The Chinese New Year is a celebration centred on visiting family and friends. It is a festival of food and good times and like our own New Year, focuses on the future and what the New Year can hold. Therefore the celebrations for it are always infectious and full of colour and movement. I lived in Singapore for three years and the Chinese New Year was a serious event in the yearly calendar. I always looked forward to…