Foreign Teachers and Students in HBU Enjoyed an Immersive Experience of Chinese Minor New Year Cultures

January 14th, 2023—the 23rd day of thetwelfthlunar monthin 2022—came at a time ofthe traditional festival “Minor New Year” in northern China.Hence HBU organized itsforeign teachers and international students in Baoding to participate inone oftheserial activities “Baoding in Foreigners Eyes”—“Home is Where the Heart is; Together WeTalkAbout theHappy Chinese New Year”, which wassponsored by the Office of the Foreign Affairs Commissionof Baoding Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China and the Publicity Department of the Jingxiu District Committeeof the Communist Party of China, and co-organized by theYulan Garden Community.In this activity,17 foreign teachers and studentsin HBUfrom 9 countries, including Portugal, Egypt, Russia, Japan, Bangladesh, Niger, Brazil, Vietnam and Indonesia, walked into the Yulan GardenCommunity in Jingxiu District to experience the traditional Chinese “Minor New Year”cultures.

Theyexperienced traditionalChinese customsin Minor New Yearwith residents in the community,includingplaying waist drumsandmaking lanterns,bread in various shapes and Sugar-coated Haws on a Stick,as well as makingdumplingsandwritingSpringFestivalcoupletsandthe Chinesecharacterof“Fu”,spentthe “Minor New Year” with the community and enjoyed the immersive experienceoftraditionalChinese culture. Thiscolorfuleventcombinedfolk customs with modern atmosphere, allowedforeign friends to personally feel the warmth, openness and tolerance of Baoding citizens and the “strongsenseofnewyear”whichbelongsto the Chinese, and enhanced the sense of integration and belonging of foreigners to Baoding.All these foreign friendsexpressedthat such activities not only allowed them to learn more about Chinese traditional cultures, but also made them feel a strong enthusiasm andfeelingof home in a foreign country.

Nunu, a foreign teacher from Portugal, said that he has been in China for seven years, which is a particularly precious memory. In the past 7 years, he has been obsessed with Chinese cultures,lovedto visit Baoding's scenic spots and parks,and fellin love with Baoding food... Hehasspent the Spring Festival in Baodingforseveral times and knew a lot about localtraditions.Nunu said that it made him feel warm to sit with Chinese friends for reunion dinner and play games on the day of Minor New Year.

Hima, an international student from Niger, played the waist drum under the guidance of Li Pingyun, a waist drum teacher. He said: "In today's activity, Iexperiencednot onlythe Chinese waist drum, but also the making skills of the He’s Sugar-coated Haws on a Stick ofManchu, anintangible cultural heritagein Baoding. In addition, Ialso madebread in various shapes anddumplings withmy classmates, andexperiencedthe time-honored traditional culturesof China.”Himaalso expressedthat he will sharehisexperienceswith friends in Niger so that morepeoplewillunderstand and fall in love with China.

Paola Belen,a foreign teacher from Portugal, said: "Today I am here for the ChineseLitterNew Year.I really like Chinese culture, and the activities I participated today are very interesting and meaningful. We made dumplings andplayedgames,which brought me a good experience. I would like to thankHBUand Baodingfor giving me this opportunity to experience Chinese traditional cultures.”

Mohamed Bekhit, a foreign teacher from Egypt, has been in Baoding for ten years and already considers itashis second hometown. He said: “Baoding is a very friendly city, and the people here are very welcoming. Moreover,Baoding is becoming more and more open, and therecomeincreasingforeign friends. I have always been very interested in Chinese traditional cultures, and Iwillspread Chinese traditional culturestomyfriends and family when I return toEgyptin the future.”

This event is the first phase of2023 “Baoding in Foreigners Eyes” planned by the Foreign Affairs Commissionof Baoding Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China, aiming to implement theprinciplesof the 20thCPC National Congress, strengthen international communication capacity building, more fully and clearly display Chinese stories and the ideological and spiritual power behind them, tell Chinese stories and Baoding stories to the world, and spread Chinese voices and Baoding voices.It alsoallowed foreign friends towalk intothe lives of ordinary people inBaoding, personallyexperiencethe traditional folk customswhich belongto the Chinese people, witness the connotation of Baoding to build a modern city with quality of life, effectively enhance the sense of integration and belonging of foreigners to Baoding, promote cultural self-confidence with practical actions, andstrengthenthe communication and influence of Chinese civilization. All foreign teachers and international students in this activity are fromHBU, and the activity has produced good social responses:People’s Daily, China Daily, Guangming Daily,CRI Online, BaodingMunicipal People’sGovernmentForeign AffairsOffice, Baoding Evening News, Baoding News Broadcast, Jingxiu Media and many other media have successively interviewed and reported ontheseforeign teachers and studentsin HBU.

HBUhas maintained business contactswiththe Foreign Affairs Commissionof Baoding Municipal Committee of the Communist Party of China,the Publicity Department of the Jingxiu District Committeeof the Communist Party of Chinaand other government departments,and has established friendly cooperation and friendshipwith them. In the future, we will continue to strengthen liaison and cooperation with foreign affairs departments ofHebei Province andcities, carry out a series of people-to-people exchange activities around foreign teachers and international students in China, tell Chinese stories andspreadChinese voices,and helpHBUimprove its international communication ability and international development.

Participants gathered together to experience and spread traditional Chinese cultures

Participants worked together to makebread in various shapeswith strongatmosphere of Spring Festival.