Students from Pakistan, Ethiopia, and other countries at Chongqing University of Posts and Telecommunications (CQUPT) felt the charm of traditional Chinese culture by watching Sichuan Opera performances, practicing Zhao's martial arts, and learning to make sugar paintings at the Bayu Folk Museum in Yubei District on September 22.
Participating in the Chongqing Citizen's Image Project, Yubei Intangible Cultural Heritage, the international students watched Sichuan Opera performances and appreciated Yubei woodcarving works at the Bayu Folk Museum.
While the successor of the sugar painting presented sugar paintings on the right side of the opera stage, the international students tried to engage in the production process of the sugar paintings.
Sugar paintings made by the CQUPT international students. (iChongqing/ Kang Zheng)
Furthermore, the inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage of dough modeling displayed elegant dough modeling works and introduced the historical origin and forms of dough modeling art.
Through interpreting the elements in dough modeling into visual symbols and making complex dough modeling patterns as simple as possible, the international students were eager to try it out and immersed in the joy of dough modeling art.
The students were concentrating on dough modeling. (iChongqing/ Kang Zheng)
"Chinese traditional culture is splendid, broad, and profound," said Hilux, an international student from Ethiopia. "In my future study, I would like to study Chinese culture more comprehensively and become a promoter and disseminator of Chinese traditional culture."
Through personal participation and experience, the international students gained a deeper understanding of Chongqing and knowledge of Chinese culture.
Watching the tea art performance and drinking tea, the superb skills of the tea art workers amazed all the international students and reminded them that China is the tea's hometown and the tea culture's birthplace.
Learning basic martial arts moves from Master Liu Zijun, the inheritor of Zhao's martial arts, at the atrium of Bashu Sculpture Museum, the international students also showed strong interest in traditional Chinese martial arts.
International students were experiencing martial arts. (iChongqing/ Kang Zheng)
(Li Lu, as an intern, also contributed to this report.)