Clay sculpture, Paper Cutting and other folk art exhibition stalls lined up, and more than 100 international students shuttled through them to participate in the interactive experience of intangible cultural heritage... On the afternoon of November 20, this scene appeared in the Gongqing Square of Zhejiang Business Technology Institute (hereinafter referred to as ZBTI), which is affiliated to Zhejiang Communications Investment Group. The campus was crowded and bustling in the early winter.
The 10th Ningbo International University Students Festival, jointly organized by Ningbo Education Bureau and the Foreign Affairs Office of Ningbo Municipal People's Government, and hosted by ZBTI, is themed by Tradition and Heritage, aiming to better build friendship among young people from various countries, strengthen exchanges and mutual learning among international university students from all over the world, enhance cultural exchanges, and inherit and promote excellent traditional Chinese culture.
The 10th Ningbo International University Students Festival will last for 5 days. International students from Indonesia, Russia, and Vietnam, as well as representatives of international students from various universities in Ningbo, will watch cultural performances, participate in a series of colorful activities such as the Traditional Chinese Medicine and Food Culture Experience Tour, Port Culture Experience Tour, Traditional Drama Art Experience Tour, and the 2023 Ningbo International Students Chinese Speaking Competition.
Welcome guests and international friends, and we also hope that international university students can cultivate their cooperation skills, integrate into local culture, and establish deep friendship during the cultural exchange activities in the coming few days! said Zhou Zhichun, President of ZBTI.
The dance Together in Love opened the prelude to the performance. The female acappella “2035 is This Young” and the traditional fan dance all reflect the charm of traditional Chinese culture. The performance Sichuan Opera Face Changing has pushed the atmosphere of the scene to a climax. Luis, a representative of international university students from friend city in Indonesia, said that although he had previously watched a video of Sichuan opera face changing online, it was the first time he had watched it up close in person, which was very shocking. Eyerusalem from Ethiopia gave a thumbs up to the camera after watching the entire cultural performance as she said it’s a vivid presentation of traditional Chinese culture.
After the cultural performance, international students came to the experience area and embarked on a journey of intangible cultural heritage. There are 12 booths in this area, including Dragon and Phoenix Characters, Sugar Painting, Clay Sculpture, Sugar Blowing Figure, Grass Weaving, Chinese Painting, Hanfu, Tea Art, etc. After completing the experience at each booth and collecting all 12 seals, students will receive a beautiful gift.
International students experience Hanfu
International students admiring Clay Sculptures
Sadikov from Uzbekistan just received a work with his Chinese name Victory written on it in front of the Dragon and Phoenix character booth. Excitedly, he said, This character is so beautiful, like a painting. I really want the teacher to write more pictures to give to my family. Pavlovna from Russia put on Hanfu and posed, taking a group photo with the two mascots of ZBTI, Xiaogong and Xiaoshang. It's so wonderful to experience so much traditional Chinese culture and get so many interesting handicrafts here at once. I will go experience the next project right away, Ariana from Italy showed her newly learned handicrafts and hurried to the next booth. International students who have not experienced every item are busy and happy, while those who have completed sit in front of tea art experience booths leisurely tasting various flavors of Chinese tea, chatting, and making new friends.
This year marks the tenth anniversary of the the Belt and Road Initiative. Over the past 10 years, the the Belt and Road Initiative has been an international practice, achieving tangible and profound achievements. As an exchange platform for culture, civilization, education, science and technology, colleges and universities have played an important role in promoting mutual learning and cultural integration. Qiu Wanli, the person in charge of the International Exchange and Cooperation Department of ZBTI said.
Hanfu Show
International students experience the tea making skills of the Song Dynasty
It is reported that in recent years, ZBTI has not only built a Ningbo Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection and Utilization base, offered on campus intangible cultural heritage courses such as Introduction to Intangible Cultural Heritage and Ningbo Intangible Cultural Heritage Experience Tour, as well as a Chinese Intangible Cultural Heritage training course for overseas learners. It has also co built more than 10 off campus intangible cultural heritage practice bases with relevant units. More than 20 research projects related to intangible cultural heritage have been established, such as the National Social Science Fund. The first university inheritance base for the national intangible cultural heritage project Ninghai Pingdiao has been established. National level opera experts such as Zhou Qin have been invited as guest professors to regularly give lectures, and intangible cultural heritage related societies such as the Yayun Opera Association have been established to comprehensively integrate intangible cultural heritage culture into the campus cultural system, striving to create a ZBTI model for the inheritance and dissemination of intangible cultural heritage.