On April 23rd, the Opening Ceremony of the 20th International Cultural Festival and International Food Carnival was held on the Green Leaf Walking Street of the Guoding Road Campus. The festival continues to integrate diverse cultures and build the harmonious international campus as the activity concept, with the theme of To Share, To Be Together, aiming to show the excellent cultures of countries around the world through a series of abundant and wonderful activities and to display the mutual integration of SUFE Chinese and foreign students.
SUFE leaders Tao Xu, Yuanchun Liu, Xinyuan Chen, Lingzhen Yao, Zengquan Li, Assistant President Liu Qingsheng, Standing Committee of the University Council and Director of the United Front Work Department Hua Chu, and the leaders of relevant functional departments and schools (departments, institutes), teachers and students attended the event.
At the opening ceremony, Haoxiang Chang(China), Executive President of the Law School Student Association, and Heyuan Chen(Malaysia), President of the International Student Association, delivered speeches as representatives of Chinese and foreign students respectively and introduced the overall situation of the International Cultural Festival. Four Chinese and foreign students sang the original theme song of the International Cultural Festival Four Seas, One Heart, which conveyed the idea of the community of human destiny.
Vice President Lingzhen Yao delivered a speech, in which she combined the theme of this year's International Culture Festival and sent her message to SUFE Chinese and foreign students to stand at the front of the era, observe world trends, enhance mutual exchanges, and make the contribution of SUFE youths to the integration of China and foreign countries and build a community with a shared future for mankind.
On the following food carnival, British Chafers, Mongolian dairy products, Indonesian banana and coconut milk sweet soup, Dutch apple pie, Brazilian guarana ...... food from different countries were gathered, so that the teachers and students of SUFE had a gourmet journey around the world without going out of the campus. At the same time, Canadian table hockey, Korean pebble toss, Burmese shuttlecock and other special games of different countries were also synchronized, showing the different styles of the world.
As a showcase of the harmonious international campus and a platform to present the world's cultures, the International Cultural Festival has always been committed to promoting excellent cultures from around the world. We prepared the traditional Norwegian game Hallingkast, Norwegian waffles for this event, and purposely wore the traditional costumes that are only for the Norwegian National Day. Norwegian international student Beichen said.
Zhigang, an international student from Pakistan, was very glad to be able to show their culture on campus, Our booth prepared rice stew and Rooh Afza drinks for the students and shared their cooking recipes with them, we hope that while enjoying the food, the students could also get to know more about Pakistani food habits and culture. In addition to this, we also let the students participate in the traditional Pakistani game Ludo, the simple game that quickly brought the students closer together, which I think is the best interpretation of cultural exchange.
Meanwhile, the food carnival was synchronized with the Tallinn Day 2024 event. At the scene of the event, students learned about Estonia's cultural landscape through quiz games, and also received delicate postcards, chocolates, traditional pastries and other small gifts, and felt a strong sense of foreign flavor.
Over the past 10 years since the Belt and Road initiative was proposed, the proportion of international students from countries along the route has become higher and higher. It is worth mentioning that of the 24 booths manned by international students in this Food Carnival, 21 of them are from countries along the Belt and Road. During the preparation of this food festival, we carefully selected ingredients and tried to show the essence of samsa, the traditional beefcake of Kazakhstan. In addition, we immersed the students in experiencing the culture of Kazakhstan through games such as Asyk. We are very pleased to be able to organize such a cultural showcase on the SUFE campus, to show Chinese friends the customs and traditions of our country. This is also part of the ‘Belt and Road' initiative, and we hope that through such activities, we can deepen the friendship and cooperation between students from China and Kazakhstan. Ailu, an international student from Kazakhstan, said.
"Our booth has prepared Malaysia's special Nyonya pastries and traditional game congkak for everyone. Participating in this food carnival, we deeply appreciate the charm of cultural exchanges. We hope that through this kind of cultural demonstration activity, Chinese friends will learn more about Malaysia's food and game culture, and then promote the exchange and integration between students of the two countries. This year is the 50th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and Malaysia, and we hope to utilize this opportunity to deepen the friendly relations between China and Malaysia. In the future, we will also continue to participate in more such cultural exchange activities to contribute to the promotion of the 'Belt and Road' initiative.” Zili Chen, an international student from Malaysia, said.
This year marks the 75th anniversary of the founding of the People's Republic of China. While showcasing outstanding cultures from around the world, SUFE has also been emphasizing telling Chinese stories to international students. A special area for experiencing Chinese food and culture was set up at the food carnival site, which was co-organized by the Graduate Student Association of International Cultural Exchange School, the Student Association of the School of Law, and the Student Association of International Education School. In addition to traditional Chinese food such as green dumplings, fresh flower cakes, and Cantonese cold noodles, the area also included traditional Chinese cultural demonstrations, such as calligraphy and Chinese dress. Jiao Li(China), a master's degree student at International Cultural Exchange School, said, This event allowed us to experience the richness and colorfulness of the world's cuisines, and we were honored to share the traditional Chinese food and culture with everyone. We prepared some Chinese specialty pastries, such as green dumplings and osmanthus cakes, and also designed activities such as calligraphy and jingle trivia games. Through these activities, we hope to show Chinese food and at the same time tell you stories about China's wealthy and profound culture, so that more international friends can understand and appreciate the unique charm of Chinese culture.
To strengthen the labor education of Chinese and foreign students, this year's Food Carnival booth was built by Chinese and foreign students together for the first time, further deepening exchanges and promoting integration through the event, which vividly illustrated the concept of a harmonious international campus. From the clumsiness at the beginning to the skillfulness later, from the initial reticence to the instant agreement afterward, under the common goal, we watered the flower of international friendship with sweat, tacit understanding and laughter.” Jie Chen from Malaysia, Leader of the Food Carnival, said so.
This year's International Culture Festival welcomed teachers and students from the SUFE Affiliated Primary School and the Nanmulin Senior High School in Shigatse City, Tibet, which is supported by SUFE's trusteeship, to experience cultures from all over the world and interact with the international students.
This year's International Cultural Festival is organized by the International Cultural Exchange School and the Youth League Committee, and co-organized by the International Students Association, the Graduate Students Association of the International Cultural Exchange School, the Students Association of the College of Business, the Students Association of the School of Finance, the Students Association of the School of Law and the Students Association of the International Education College. In the following month, more colorful activities will be held on and off campus, such as “With Youth Chinese and Foreign Students riding to know Shanghai, China in Your Eyes Chinese Speech Contest for International Students, International Culture in Primary Schools, International Culture in the Community and Spring Music Festival and so on.
（From International Cultural Exchange School）
