News

26 November 2023 Indie Book Fair

by Suyen Hu on Thu, Nov 09 2023

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Storytelling Skills of Chinese Legends in five sessions at West Oxford Community Centre. CANCELLATION.

by Suyen Hu on Fri, Feb 28 2020

We regret that we have decided to cancel these classes because of the Coronavirus situation.

Our two tutors for this course are at present in Taiwan and we feel it is not advisable for them to fly from Taiwan to England in light of the coronavirus scare, the further development of which is still uncertain. We feel sure you will support and understand this decision and we apologise sincerely to those of you who expressed an interest and to any who were contemplating joining.

We have put a great deal of thought and enthusiasm into preparing these courses... Read more

CANCELLATION: Mandarin Art&Language classes at West Oxford Community Centre

by Suyen Hu on Fri, Feb 28 2020

We regret that we have decided to cancel these classes because our artist and principal instructor in Taiwan feels it is better not to fly from Taiwan to England in light of the coronavirus scare whose further development is still uncertain. We support his decision and apologise sincerely to those of you who expressed an interest and to any who were contemplating joining. We and our artists have put a great deal of thought into preparing these courses and we hope to be able to offer them again when times are more certain.

------------------Cancelled Workshops-------------------------

Week 1 04/03/2020... Read more

Snowflaker Celebrates The Launch Of Dragon Discoveries

by Stephanie Henwood on Fri, Mar 29 2019

Snowflaker celebrates cultured achievements and The Launch of Dragon Discoveries

Celebrating nearly 3 years with Snowflake Books, Steph is proud of the achievements that herself, Suyen and the uniquely knitted together team, Snowflake has made. Here, she tells us why!

 I first met with Suyen and Lihui on a lovely summers day at the offices of a mutual friend and marketing agency in Witney, Oxford; Push Start Marketing.  Lucy seemed convinced that we were a good... Read more

Snowflake Books Welcomes Catherine

by Christina Barker on Wed, Jan 16 2019

Snowflake Books welcomes Catherine
Snowflake Books welcomes yet another team member to our team. Catherine has recently joined the team and will be assisting us in our events as our 'Events Organiser'. She will also be helping us with fundraising for our new sister company 'Dragon Discoveries'.
You can read more about Catherine below: 

 

I have over 20 years of fundraising experience both in the Charity and Business Sector with my focus being work with art, education and culture... Read more

Successful Taiwan Workshop

by Roy Preece on Thu, Dec 20 2018

Successful Taiwan Workshop

We are so pleased to tell you that Su Yen had a hugely successful Poetry and Art Workshop in Taiwan. The aim was to encourage people to think in English and to share their own stories through words and drawings. It was so moving that some people even cried! This is to experience another language very deeply. The event was arranged through English Island, a bi-lingual cultural magazine in Taiwan.

Su Yen was very enthusiastic as she went over the day with her colleague Roy, in England, on Skype.... Read more

Little Mandarin Competition

by Christina Barker on Wed, Nov 14 2018

Little Mandarin Competition

ENTER TO WIN! with Little Mandarin Classes

Simply submit a video of your little one speaking Mandarin Chinese from the word bank for a chance to win prizes including 3 of our Snowflake Books!

Deadline for this competition is 30th November 2018

There will be another chance to win in December AND January too so keep an eye out for those and submit your videos to win great prizes! 

Good Luck! 祝好运

... Read more

Snowflake Books Welcomes Lorna

by Christina Barker on Wed, Aug 29 2018

Snowflake Books welcomes Lorna
Snowflake Books welcomes yet another team member to our team. Lorna has recently joined the team and will be assisting us in our events as our 'Education Events Organiser'. You can read more about Lorna below: 
 

Hello! Ni Hao! I’m Lorna and I’m happy to be joining Snowflake Books as the Education Events Organiser.


In other bits of my life, I’m a Storyteller and an English Teacher in Oxford, England. I’ve also lived in Hangzhou, in China where I taught English... Read more

More Pupils Learn Mandarin

by Christina Barker on Thu, Aug 16 2018

More Pupils Learn Mandarin

I recently spotted an article in the news stating that an expanding academy chain plans to teach Mandarin to thousands of pupils across its schools – to help prepare them for life in post-Brexit Britain.  This is great news for a step forward in more students learning Mandarin and we are absolutely delighted that they are introducing Mandarin to their curriculum. 

The Co-op Academies Trust will offer Mandarin Chinese to more than 10,000 students. The trust, which runs schools in Greater Manchester, Leeds and Stoke-on-Trent, is working with... Read more

Is this the way to “Make the desert bloom”?

by Roy Preece on Sun, Aug 12 2018

It has been a dream for centuries and a symbol of paradise to make plants grow in the desert. What they need is fresh water, but that is rare in a desert, except in an oasis, or after a very rare rainstorm.

Now plant breeders at the Sea Rice Centre in Qingdao in Eastern China have produced a sort of rice plant that will grow in salty water and in the desert sands.

This exciting project started way back in the 1970s.  As so often in the story of plant breeding the scientists found a wild species that had a... Read more

Belated recognition of Professor of Chinese in Oxford

by Roy Preece on Mon, Jul 30 2018

“Peace will come to earth when people have more to do with each other and governments less.” Richard Cobden.

If you go to No. 3 Keble Road in Oxford, opposite the famous Keble College, you can see the recently installed ‘Blue Plaque’ of Professor James Legge.

These blue plaques are allowed to be put up by local authorities if a person after death is considered to be famous enough. Legge died in 1897 so he has waited a long time for recognition!

Legge was the first professor of Chinese... Read more

Genghis Khan beats Peppa Pig! 

by Roy Preece on Sun, Jul 22 2018

 The Chinese have banned Peppa Pig as a bad example to young people. But they are promoting Genghis Khan as a national hero! Strange or not?

We hear that the Chinese authorities have banned Peppa Pig as being a role model for young people.  It seems this pig does not have a sufficiently respectful attitude to authority. On the other hand, having tried to banish much of the past in the cultural revolution of the 1960s, the government is now seeking to reinstate great thinkers such as Confucius. But Genghis Khan? 

Genghis Khan certainly had a serious attitude to authority.... Read more

Our Dragon King finally sent us some rain!

by Suyen Hu on Sat, Jul 21 2018

Rain in Oxfordshire brings drought to a welcome end | Oxford Mail

      

  

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

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Dragon Boat Festival Workshop in Taiwan

by Suyen Hu on Tue, May 22 2018

Learning through legends! Learning through games! It's lovely to see children play happily while learning about traditional culture that is sometimes too serious to children at a very young age.

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More stories at 11.30am at Blackwell's Broad Street every Thursday!

by Suyen Hu on Mon, Apr 16 2018

Thank you so much for coming to our event on Saturday 14 April 2018😘 Hope to see you again soon at Blackwell's Bookshop on Broad Street in Oxford at 11:30am on Thursdays!

 

 

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NEWS! We are now planning for the coming Dragon Boat Festival events!!!

by Suyen Hu on Sun, Mar 11 2018

Did you join any of our Chinese New Year events at libraries in London or museums in Oxford recently? All our events were very popular and busy!

In order to make it great again, we have started to plan for our next big Chinese Festival: Dragon Boat Festival. If you love dragons, stories and fun activities, you won't want to miss this opportunity to celebrate the next big Chinese Festival: Dragon Boat Festival (which falls on 18th June this year) in June or July with all sorts of different activities such as story telling of the dragon boat festival legend,... Read more

Celebrating Chinese New Year at Surrey Quays in London on 10 March 2018

by Suyen Hu on Sun, Mar 11 2018

London children discover what the Year of Dog is all about with story teller Su Yen from Snowflake Books and children's art work from Taiwan.

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Celebrating Chinese New Year at Ashmolean

by Suyen Hu on Sun, Mar 11 2018

17 and 18 February 2018

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Introducing Britta Bielenberg - an Experienced Senior Journalist with International Outlooks

by Christina Barker on Wed, Oct 11 2017

We would love to give a huge welcome to our newest team member - Britta!
Britta has come on board as our Education Events Organiser for the London area and we are so excited to be expanding our events outside of Oxfordshire. Read more about Britta below.  
Britta Bielenberg

Before becoming a journalist I took a Masters degree in Business Administration. I studied in Frankfurt, Paris and London which fitted in perfectly with my interest in people, languages and cultures from all over the globe. My... Read more

2017 Snowflake’s Super year with Special announcements!

by Stephanie Henwood on Thu, Apr 06 2017

Following a fruitful new year’s period of school visits, museum collaboration and workshops, Snowflake Books were delighted to announce big changes to their organisational structure. This includes the recent recruitment of Christina Barker and Taylor Brooker who have taken on the responsibility of Snowflakes online presence and design work here in the UK.

“Both newly appointed team members have already proven to be invaluable assets to the organisation” Says beaming Snowflaker and company Business Development Manager, Steph. “sharing fantastic ideas and building great companionship with the rest of the team.”

You can read more about Christina and Taylor’s appointments --... Read more

Our team has grown by two!

by Christina Barker on Thu, Mar 30 2017

We welcome our new team members Christina and Taylor. They have come on board to assist us with our social media, marketing and design so keep an eye on our pages for a flurry of activity in the coming months. 

 

Social media and Marketing Executive

Christina has a background in social media management as well as advanced knowledge of the events industry. She has a keen eye for detail and is a lover of organisation. She will be managing all our social media accounts as well as coming up with a good marketing strategy for the... Read more

Happy Holidays

by Jess O'Shea on Thu, Dec 08 2016

 

Happy holidays from all of us here at Snowflake Books we hope you have a wonderful Christmas and a fantastic western New Year. 

 

In Chinese Happy/Merry Christmas is 'Sheng Dan Kuai Le or 圣诞快乐' in Mandarin and 'Seng Dan Fai Lok or 聖誕快樂' in Cantonese. 

Snowflake Books value the idea of sharing festivals and traditions between cultures and would like to tell you what the season is like in the East.

Although Christmas and the Western New Year is not traditionally celebrated in Eastern culture, as only 1% of Chinese... Read more

HAPPY TEACHER'S DAY!

by Stephanie Henwood on Fri, Sep 30 2016

Here at Snowflake Books, we would like to wish a very happy Teacher's Day to our many supporting Schools, teachers, Head teachers and Private Tutors.

What are you doing to celebrate Teacher's Day?

This special day of thanks and appreciation is not just celebrated in China and Taiwan, many countries around the world join us today to pay respects to our teachers, though some countries choose to celebrate on a different date. 

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Hungry Ghost Festival 2016

by Jess O'Shea on Wed, Aug 17 2016

Hungry Ghost Festival 2016

The Hungry Ghost Month (鬼月, Guǐ Yuè) is a traditional Buddhist and Taoist holiday held in Asian countries during the seventh lunar month. This is usually celebrated in August or September, depending on the lunar calendar.

The highlight of the month is the Hungry Ghost Festival, which this year is held on Wednesday 17th August.

Hungry Ghost Origami Boat

In celebration of Ghost Month We've provided you with all... Read more

Snowflake Books Bundle and FREE Workshop to Win

by Suyen Hu on Wed, Jul 13 2016

An amazing chance to win Snowflake Book Bundle and a free workshop with FundED magazine!

Simply click the link or copy and paste the web address and follow the steps to enter the competition. 

Let us see who will be the lucky one!

http://funded.org.uk/magazine/giveaways/

 

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Learning Through Legends

by Suyen Hu on Thu, Aug 06 2015

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