Language is the key to understand a country and a bridge to enhance the dialogues among civilizations. With the purpose of boosting the cultural confidence and increasing the popularity of the excellent traditional Chinese culture, a good variety of Chinese cultural activities have been organized in many parts of the world on the occasion of April 20th---- the UN Chinese Day ---- under the theme of “Chinese, enhance dialogues among civilizations”, followed by the call from the Center for Language Education and Cooperation and Chinese Plus. Chinese Culture of Beverage and Food Training Base for the International Promotion of Chinese Language of Hubei University of Economics therefore also organized a special cultural activity that focus on Chinese food culture for promoting Sino-foreign cultural exchanges. With the support of International Exchange & Cooperation Department and the School of International Education, the activity invited all the foreign teachers and international students to join, and to further expand the influence, another 7 international students and teachers from the School of International Education of Wuhan University were also invited to come.
Lin Yongmao, one of the culinary art master of Chinese Culture of Beverage and Food Training Base for the International Promotion of Chinese Language demonstrated the skill of food carving for the students and teachers from the School of International Education - the ordinary carrots in Lin Yongmao’s hands were instantly transformed into lifelike leaves and fluttering butterflies, and the exquisite skills drew applause from the audience.
Jiang Wensheng and Guo Jiajun , the inheritors of intangible cultural heritage of Hubei Cuisine introduced the genealogy of the century-old Four Seasons Beauty and demonstrated the skills of making soup buns. By 8 minutes of steaming, the crystal-clear soup buns were presented to the students and teachers, with flavor overflowing around. Master Jiang Wensheng also introduced the tips of tasting the soup buns: firstly pour the vinegar sauce through the carp mouth at the top of the bun, and then gently send the soup bun to your mouth as a whole with chopsticks, leaving a savory taste on the lips and teeth. The international students said: That's why I learn Chinese, because I can have direct contact with Chinese people and have a better understanding of Chinese culture, which can also enhance the friendship between the two countries.
In the interactive session, the foreign teacher David Howell (American) demonstrated the cooking process of American-style apple pie, and shared the barbecue pie he made at home with audience, making everyone to appreciate the different flavors of pies from different countries. Ai Xiayu (Turkish) and Meiyao (Turkish), the international students from Wuhan University, made Turkish specialties Biber Dolmasi and traditional drink Cacik. Their fluent Chinese expressions and authentic Turkish flavors won the praise from the audience.
The last session of the event was to participate in a practical learning- Making Chinese Pastry, in which the students learnt about how to make dumplings. Students from Class 2141 and 2142 of Information and Communication Engineering program interacted with the international students and teachers and taught them the skills of making Chinese dumplings. Everyone was very excited to learn, to practice and ultimately to taste the delicious dumplings made by themselves. Group photos were taken at last.
With festive atmosphere on the scene, the Chinese and foreign students appreciate the tasty food and cultural characteristics of different countries, and have a better understanding of the profound significance of the human community with shared future, injecting more vitality into international cultural exchange.