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Why Calgary kids are cycling into the Chinese New Year

Click to play video: 'Students at Highwood School prepare for Chinese New Year on their bikes'
Students at Highwood School prepare for Chinese New Year on their bikes
WATCH ABOVE: Some Calgary kids are getting ready to hit the stage with a show of their own. As Gil Tucker shows us, they’re wheeling into action to bring new life to an ancient tradition – Jan 19, 2016

CALGARY – It’s not very often kids get a chance to hop on their bikes in the middle of Calgary’s winter.

But Grade 4 students at Highwood School are having a lot of fun riding around this week.

They’re in Highwood’s Mandarin immersion program. The cycling is their part of the school’s annual Chinese New Year’s show.

The bicycles represent the traditional way of going to the market to stock up for the New Year celebration.

“Everyone’s biking to the market to get food, to prepare a fresh meal to celebrate with their family,” Highwood’s principal, Christine Cheung, said.

The student cyclists hit the stage at the Jubilee Auditorium for the school’s performance Wednesday night.

It’s part of Calgary-wide festivities to ring in the “Year of the Monkey,” which officially starts February 8.

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Nine-year-old Emily Dang is among those looking forward to the school’s New Year’s show.

“I’ve never rode a bike inside before,” she said. “My parents are like, ‘no, you’re going to track mud everywhere.’”

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