(Correspondent: Xu Jiatong) On the afternoon of May 27th, “Tong Zong Tong Yuan” event to celebrate Dragon Boat Festival and farewell party for graduates from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan hosted by our school and the Hubei Province Federation of Taiwan Compatriots, co-organized by the Hubei Province Taiwan Youth Internship Entrepreneurship Employment Counseling Center, Wuchang District Cultural Heritage and Intangible Cultural Heritage Protection Center was held successfully in the Education Center For Students From Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan.
Luo Ying, full-time vice president and the General Secretary of Hubei Province Federation of Taiwan Compatriots, and Professor Yao Li, a Member of the Standing Committee of the Party Committee and vice president of Zhongnan University of Economics and Law, attended the event. Hubei Provincial Counseling Center for Taiwan Youth Internship, Entrepreneurship and Employment, Taiwan Federation Cross-Strait Intangible Cultural Heritage Development and Exchange Research Base, Taiwan Democratic Self-Government League Hubei Provincial Committee, the Education Center For Students From Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan, the Law School, as well as some Taiwanese settlers in Hubei, the Taiwanese youth staff and representatives of Hong Kong, Macau and Taiwan students celebrated the Dragon Boat Festival and bid farewell to graduates together.
To begin with, Professor Yao Li delivered a speech, hoping that the graduates from Hong Kong, Macao and Taiwan would live up to their youth and the great era, and build the Chinese dream together. She pointed out that nowadays students and teachers from both sides of the Strait and Hong Kong and Macao gathered in the hometown of Qu Yuan and the land of Jing Chu to celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival, which not only continued the customs of our ancestors and carried forward the excellent Chinese traditional culture, but also signified the same origin, the same culture, the same root and the same dream, and jointly realized the Chinese dream of the great rejuvenation of the Chinese nation.
Vice President Luo Ying expressed greetings to the teachers and students at the school on behalf of the Hubei Province Federation of Taiwan Compatriots. He said that the Dragon Boat Festival has different customs in different places, but they all reflect the most common wishes of people’s hearts and their aspirations for a better life. He hoped that the students would experience the cultural customs of the Dragon Boat Festival and promote the traditional Chinese culture by making mung bean cakes and wearing Chinese costumes. He expressed his welcome to the guests gathered at ZUEL to welcome the Dragon Boat Festival and celebrate the graduation together, and also wished the graduating students a prosperous future.
Liu Shufan, a representative of Taiwan graduates, expressed her gratitude to ZUEL and teachers for their love and care. She mentioned that ZUEL not only teaches us to learn from others and challenge ourselves, but also teaches us the human ecology of “Learned, Rational, Virtuous and Devoted”. Under the cultivation of the university and the college, students have spent four years together in a fulfilling and meaningful way.
Afterwards, Master Lin Hanqiao, the inheritor of the “Cao Xiangtai” intangible cultural heritage in Hubei Province, led the guests and students to make mung bean cakes on site. Each mung bean cake was arranged and shaped, and then sent into the steamer to give off a sweet aroma. After the cakes came out of the oven, everyone gathered around the table to taste homemade mung bean cakes. “In Taiwan for the Dragon Boat Festival, it was my grandmother who wrapped zongzi for me, but this time, making mung bean cake by myself is not only a novel experience, but also a new skill.” Taiwanese student Lin Zhenqi said, “So many people spent the festival together and got the taste of home.”
Afterwards, Ms. Yafan Cai, a Taiwanese youth who has settled in China, gave a unique mini class on Chinese costumes. She detailed the historical evolution of Chinese costumes and the various ways to wear them. The students enthusiastically signed up to be models and wear Chinese costumes for the show. “I've always watched people wearing Hanfu on the Internet, and I wanted too, so today I finally got my wish!” Hong Kong student Ying Chen said with delight that he wanted to send his photos of himself in Chinese costume to his family to share his joy.
In the end, the students put on the Chinese costumes and took pictures, and finished the enjoyable activity with interactive games such as “Zhuge Hat Eating Candy”, “hooting Five Poisons” and “Pot Pouring”.
