International students celebrate Spring Festival in their own way in Shanghai
By Chen Shasha
As the Year of the Rat approaches, millions of Chinese
people leave for their distant homes to reunite with their loved ones and
celebrate the Spring Festival. Some young foreign expats, especially college
students, take the opportunity to stay in China, intending to experience
Chinese culture through this festival at close range.
Baek Seohui, a junior student learning commercial Chinese in
East China Normal University (ECNU) in Shanghai, told the Global Times that
people in South Korea celebrate their New Year’s Day on the same day Chinese
do.
Reunion and
communication
“We wear traditional costumes and eat niangao [a special
treat made of glutinous rice flour] soup to celebrate our New Year's Day,” she
noted. “During China’s Spring Festival, all things are in red. I felt strange
the first time I saw it. But now, I feel a sense of happiness when I see red.”
Baek goes back to South Korea every year to celebrate New
Year's Day. This is the first year she is celebrating in China. On Thursday
night, ECNU hosted around 200 international students from 40 countries and
regions with Chinese cuisine and interactive games.
“It [the party] is an opportunity to make friends, just as
important as reunion with old friends,” Canadian national Ian Heystee, an
exchange student at ECNU, told the Global Times.
“Zodiac years are a big deal here in China and I’ve been
asked often what my animal year is,” he said.
Indonesian students in Shanghai University of Sport (SUS)
tried a small-scale Chinese style gala held on their campus on Thursday, January
16, which featured singing, a Chinese calligraphy event with their teachers,
singing together, a violin performance and even a Wushu performance.
Rahmadani Eka Anjar, together with nine of her Indonesian
companions, presented their own performance by singing “Sing Sing So” in both
Indonesian and Chinese languages. It is an Indonesian folk song also famous in
China.
Eka is excited for the upcoming festival. “I think for
Chinese people, Spring Festival is quite a big day. We really want to know what
it is,” she said, noting that she and her classmates will go around Shanghai to
see how people celebrate the festival. “If there is any chance, we also want to
join them,” she said.
Music has no boundaries. When waiting for their turn at the
back stage, an Indonesian student playing the guitar and a Chinese student
playing the violin came together to sing English and Chinese lyrics, with the
others humming to the beats in unison.
“The music creates sparks by which Chinese and foreign students
naturally resonate, communicate and integrate with each other,” said Niu
Tingting, an SUS teacher in charge of international students’ affairs.
She hopes such activities could let them know more about
Chinese culture and also bring them a sense of belonging.
Finally belonging
Shanghai’s night view along the Huangpu River is iconic
enough to attract both frequent and new visitors. Despite cold winter
temperatures, the international students of Shanghai International Studies
University(SISU) were awestruck by the view from a cruise along the river on
January 14.
While sailing to the Lujiazui area, the crowd on board burst
into “wows”“Shanghai is so beautiful,” Pakistani student Ume Habiba said
excitedly.
This is her second year spending the Spring Festival in
China. “We are going to Harbin in Northeast China’s Heilongjiang Province,
where my Chinese friends will welcome us to their home and [we will] join some
traditional activities and eat local food like dumplings,” she said.
“During Spring Festival, China looks so beautiful
everywhere,” Habiba said. “I love being in China. We feel like [we are] at home
because Chinese people are so helping and supportive.”
Italian Chinese Liu Xin, a 23-year-old SISU graduate
student, plans to visit her grandmother who is still living in China.
“I am looking forward to seeing how people celebrate the
festival here,” Liu said, explaining that this is her first time spending the
festival in China, where her parents were born.
“Italian Chinese living in Milan value Spring Festival a
lot,” Liu said. The local Chinese organize lion dancing while people teach
Italian friends to make dumplings and understand Chinese traditions, Liu noted.
Source:Global Times
Students showcase the prizes they won in a celebration organized by
ECNU.
International students celebrate Spring Festival in their own way in Shanghai
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