On the 23th of May, teachers and students from the First Smart College organized a traditional Chinese tea culture event at the College of Tourism and Service Management of Nankai University. They warmly welcomed not only Chinese enthusiastic students coming from 13 different schools, but also international students coming from 6 different schools, 10 different countries and 4 different continents.

It has been a tough year for everyone. A lot of international students decided not to go back to their countries and keep staying in China, where they feel much safer. In order to make their study life happier, brighter and more colorful, the College decided to invite Nankai international students to an experience they probably would not have the chance to live in their own countries, something that would make their study life much richer.

The event was thoughtfully organized in every detail and had various entertainments, starting from the colorful and gorgeous dynasty clothes, ending with the special traditional ceremony of tea making held by professional specialists, as well as the graceful dance performed by one of the students from the college.

Considering the fact that many international students here do not usually join in such cultural activities and rarely mingle with Chinese students, the First Smart College has decided to take the initiative to make international students feel like at home. Some may wonder: “What if some students could not speak Chinese?”, “How would you deal with it?”. This is the reason why during the event Professor Qiu Hanqin, dean of the First Smart College and the College of Tourism and Service Management, summarized her speech in English in order to make international students feel much relaxed and be more involved into the event.

Now let’s have a look at what the international students shared with us about their experiences at the tea culture event.

Daria, Russia, Zhou Enlai School of Government and Management: “Thanks to the organizers so much for the activity that you have organized and thanks for inviting us to the tea event. It was really interesting to watch how to make tea in a traditional Chinese way, see all the tea tools from different dynasties and taste the real traditional tea! It was a great experience!”

Ivette, Mexico, College of Tourism and Service Management: “For a foreign student, being able to experience this kind of activity allows us to understand a little bit more of Chinese culture. Understand the ancestral heritage of tea helps us appreciate the different varieties there are and the process of making a cup of tea in the traditional way. Without this kind of events we wouldn’t be able to live this amazing experience!”

Kaka, Kenya, College of Software: “The event was awesome, it especially gave us an opportunity to experience the art of Chinese tea culture, plus we had an opportunity to prepare and taste the tea along with interacting with new friends... I liked every bit of the event...Thanks.”

Yasra, Pakistan, College of Pharmacy: “The mesmerizing activity about Chinese Tea made my day on May 23, 2021. I experienced a great diversity of Chinese tea, and also got the chance of preparing tea in beautiful Chinese ancient style crockery. Looking forward to more such beautiful events.”

Naira, Bolivia, College of Finance: “The tea activity was a really nice and interesting activity that I enjoyed a lot. This activity let me know more about the tea and Chinese culture, the different types of tea, smell, texture and also the different types of preparation, plus the benefits that it has. It is also really interesting how the tea culture developed with the Chinese culture through the years. Now I feel more curious about drinking different kinds of tea, thank you to the School of Tourism for organizing this kind of activities, hope there will be more activities like this.”

Some friends even posted about the event in their Wechat timelines , just like Anastasia from Zhou Enlai School of Government and Management, coming from Russia.

It is evident that our international friends really enjoyed participating in such activities and are looking forward to participating in future activities like these! It’s always a pleasure to share the warmth and attention towards people and get positive feedback! Creating positive environment around us, seeing the smiles of people: these are the signs of the happiness, the incredible energy that drives our lives, creating unforgettable memories that will accompany us throughout the whole journey of life.

(Provided by First Smart College, edited by Davide Francolino, Lu An and JianjingYun)