Qingshan Senior Middle School’s 568 students celebrated their transition into adulthood with a rite of passage on May 18 at the school’s theater.
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A girl celebrates her rite of passage by leaving a palm print on a board. [Photo by Liu Sitong/China Daily] |
A large number of the students are from ethnic groups that originate from Xinjiang Uygur autonomous region, including Mongolian, Tajik, and Xibe ethnic groups. They study under a program specially designed for Xinjiang students that started in 2000.
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Students from various ethnic groups offer flowers to school faculty members. [Photo by Liu Sitong/China Daily] |
Students who recently came of age wore special ceremonial gowns, mixing tradition aiwth modernity and selected after a design competition organized by the provincial government, to attend the ceremony. Before entering the theater they climbed a flight of steps where three arches labeled responsibility, love, and aspiration were erected.
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Students walk to celebrate their rite of passage as they pass under the three arches of responsibility, love, and aspiration. [Photo by Liu Sitong/China Daily] |
Alumni members, teachers, and parents, nearly 1,000 people, witnessed students swear an oath as a Chinese citizen in front of the national flag inside the school’s theater.
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Coming-of-age students swear an oath as Chinese citizens in front of the national flag at their rite of passage ceremony at Qingshan Senior Middle School on May 18. [Photo by Liu Sitong/China Daily] |
