“So this ingot-like thing turns out to be dumplings!" exclaimed Aya, an international student from Morocco, “This is my very first time to make dumplings. It’s so interesting and exotic. Through such an activity, we can better understand and experience Chinese culture by doing it ourselves，which helps me to gain a deeper insight into traditional Chinese culture ”.
The Winter Solstice is as significant as the Spring Festival，bringing people in China together. Dec. 22nd marks the traditional Chinese solar term, the Winter Solstice, celebrated with a customary practice of dumpling eating. Teachers from our school of International Education organized a dumpling-making activity with the theme “The Winter Solstice produces yang energy, hot dumplings warm our school” for international students and students from minor ethnic groups.
The teachers introduced relevant cultural backgrounds to the students, such as the origin of the Winter Solstice, climate characteristics, and dietary customs. They also demonstrated basic dumpling-making skills: place the filling on a wrapper and then seal the two opposite sides together. All the students received an immersive experience of the entire production procedure of Chinese traditional food. Moments later, the tables were covered with dumplings in various shapes resembling ingots, flowers, canoes, etc. The room was permeated with the delightful aroma of dumplings against the backdrop of freezing whistling winds outside. Eating the dumplings in different shapes made themselves, students, both from China and abroad, a sense of belonging and feeling at home. Laughter and conversation further deepened the bonds of friendship among the students.
Liu Xinyu ， a student from Tujia ethnic group said “It is great fun to make dumplings and this activity is also a good way to demonstrate and pass down our Tujia traditional culture，in which I take great pride.”
Dumplings making and eating dumplings not only warmed students hearts in the cold winter but also brought them closer together. The activity gave them a chance to enjoy the charm of traditional Chinese culture through unique food culture ，thus further promoting the rich and splendid traditional Chinese culture.
Besides, the teachers from International Education also sent hot dumplings, pears, oranges and hand-writing cards with best wishes to the candidates who would take the postgraduate entrance examination the next day. This thoughtful gesture motivated them to maintain faith, overcome anxiety, resist pressure and ultimately realize their dreams.
As is widely recognized, our school attaches great importance to the education and work of overseas students in China on the basis of our specialized majors. We have made every effort to create the Belt and Road national education brand. We aimed to cultivate all-round application-oriented talents who not only appreciate Chinese culture but also possess expertise and skills, international vision, teamwork spirit, coordination abilities and a strong sense of creativity and entrepreneurship. In 2009, our school began to admit international students who pursued acidic qualifications and established School of International Education in 2016. Currently, our school hosts a total of 1,100 international students for long-term and short-term study programs, including 582 diploma students and 21 graduate students. 247 international diploma students have graduated from our university. We have forged partnerships with 39 countries, with a significant proportion (97%) from the Belt and Road nations. In 2021, we passed the quality certification of the international study in China program for colleges and universities issued by the Ministry of Education, which marks a breakthrough in our efforts in the education of overseas students from zero to one.
