The Thanksgiving party is always a special event for alumni of the TIEMBA program. This year, the annual Thanksgiving dinner party was held at a high-class club at Hou Hai in Beijing on 1st December.

With its red gate and brick tiles, the building is of an antique beauty. It is appropriate for TIEMBA – a program that is international yet has a distinct Chinese flavor - to choose a place full of Chinese tradition as the venue for this event. And this time there was not only a Thanksgiving dinner, but also a party before the dinner with special performances by the children of TIEMBA Alumni.

The party started at 7 p.m. Next, six children dressed in colorful costumes showed up on the stage, performing a cheerful song while decorating a Christmas tree. Their enthusiasm was infectious and soon had the entire audience clapping and singing along. After this first performance, there were many more items: a musical, dance, several songs and a wide variety which were all performed by children of TIEMBA Alumni. A special highlight was an original dance by a three-girl ensemble called “Dream of Sky”. The audience was busy videotaping, watching or just simply singing and dancing along with the children on the stage, and the show was very much enjoyed by all.

TIEMBA alumni children dance

"The performances were really great, especially considering that there was only one month to prepare!” said the party's planner, Grace (Hongyan) Liu. Liu is a 2009 TIEMBA alumna and has taken part in all the Thanksgiving dinners of the past years. "Previously, there was only a get-together dinner, so we hoped to make the event a little richer and interesting this time” explains Liu. So she took charge of this year’s Thanksgiving dinner preparation and came up with the idea of letting the alumni’s children be the performers. “Everyone values family, and letting family members participate in the Thanksgiving party helps alumni and students to get to know each other better and communicate more easily, and of course it was also a chance for the children to showcase their talents on stage.” The response to her idea was overwhelming as many alumni brought their children to sign up for the show, and all of them took an active part in the weekly training. After the party there was a buffet dinner. The guests were treated to delicious food and chatted amiably, while the children played happily around the hall. Laughter and cheers could be heard all around.

December 1st is also the current TIEMBA 2013 graduates’ thesis defense day, and so the Thanksgiving evening was also a welcome party for the newly graduated class. There were more than 100 guests at the dinner party, the most attended Thanksgiving party of TIEMBA ever, and it is safe to say the evening was a great success.