First Cultural Festival lands on International Campus

On April 21, the first ever Cultural Festival of International Campus kicked off. Students from 46 different countries and regions wore special costumes, hosted stalls and played games, offering a wonderful feast for the audiencThe international zone exhibited cultural traditions of different countries. The Nepal students showed their beautiful mountains, the splendid Spanish students showed their excellent football culture, the United States students showed their diversity, the Brazil students showed their passion for samba and the Turkey students worked as travel ambassadors.

The Chinese exhibition area were also full of surprises. Students from Shandong, Zhejiang, Guangdong and Shanxi showed off their ancient rhymes, special food and typical dress.There was also plenty of entertainment on stage with performances from multiple students that ranged from traditional Kung Fu to country/pop music.

Francesca Celi, organizer of the Culture Festival and member of the International Student Council said: The idea of the Cultural Festival was to let students share their countries' traditions, art, activities and games. The outcome was extremely positive. Chinese and International students cooperated in creating a real international environment, with performances of traditional songs and dances from all over the world, several stands divided by international countries and Chinese regions, and a range of food delicacies offered by the canteen. During the festival, students shared traditional games and activities, and visitors had the chance to collect 'Visas' from every stand to complete their official Culture Festival passports.During the event, FU Qiang, assistant president of ZJU, secretary of Party Working Committee and vice dean of ZJU's International Campus, participated in a number of exhibition activities and enjoyed the splendid performances. The students from Turkey also provided information about the 2018 China-Turkey tourism year. Professor K.C. Ting, vice dean of International Campus, Jenny Wang, member of Party Working Committee and director of Office of Student Affairs of International Campus, QU Haidong, vice dean of the College of Liberal Arts and Sciences, CHEN Ye, vice dean of ZJE, and MA Hao, vice dean of ZJUI, also interacted with the students and enjoyed the performances. The Culture Festival provided an opportunity for interaction and ideas sharing between Chinese and international tudents on campus. The event was jointly organized by the Student Union, International Student Council, Residential College Student Committee, College of Liberal Arts and Sciences and the Youth League Committee. 

Francesca said: The effort from all the students was incredible, they volunteered in preparing the stands and entertaining the guests during the festival. It was a wonderful occasion of cooperation among students' associations, a chance for everyone to understand each other's origins, and to engage altogether in creating an international spirit for our Campus.

The attraction of a university not only comes from the academic and research abilities, or employment prospects, but also from the campus culture itself. With this Culture Festival, International Campus shows its true commitment to creating a multicultural environment, which is lively and fun for all students.