On the afternoon of February 27, the opening ceremony of the exchange project "Dream Trip in Zhejiang"-"Chinese Bridge" Online Winter Camp, hosted by the Center for Language Education and Cooperation (CLEC) under the Ministry of Education and undertaken by Zhejiang University of Finance and Economics (ZUFE), was successfully held. Many participants gathered here for this event through online, including Xiao Zhang, the Chinese Ambassador to Kazakhstan, Zhanrong Li, vice president of ZUFE, persons in charge respectively from the International Office, the School of International Education & Studies, the ZUFE Kazakhstan Economic and Social Research Center (ZUFE-KESRC), as well as teachers related to this project, together with more than 110 students from over 40 countries and regions ranging from Kazakhstan, Russia, and Indonesia to the United States.
Mr. Li delivered a speech for this opening ceremony. He pointed out that international students were messengers for cultural exchanges and dissemination, and he encouraged everyone to listen more to the voice of China, tell more Chinese stories, so as to be the communicators of Chinese culture. He emphasized that ZUFE has always attached great importance to the education of international students in Chinese culture, specially established the "Wenhua Academy," and was committed to promoting the characteristic "culture+major" mode in order to cultivate international students, which was highly recognized by all sectors of society. The course at this winter camp, Jiangnan Culture and Contemporary Zhejiang by Wenhua Academy, vividly integrated traditional culture and contemporary civilization to make China known to the world by telling unique Chinese stories, which was a useful and beneficial effort in cultural exchanges between China and foreign countries. Finally, Mr. Li encouraged the students to cherish the opportunity of this online winter camp and experience beautiful ZUFE, beautiful Zhejiang, and beautiful China.
Besides, Mr. Zhang spared the time from his busy schedule and expressed his warm congratulations to the opening of this winter camp online. He said that since the COVID-19 epidemic, China has fully shown its manners as a responsible major country, and given timely and efficient assistance to other countries around the world. He highlighted that the joint building of a community with a shared future for mankind required all individuals from all countries to work together in adversity and unite to fight the pandemic. He stated that cultural connection, cultural tolerance, and cultural co-construction were the cornerstones of building the community of a shared future for mankind. The Chinese Bridge Winter Camp was a very meaningful undertaking. He expected that students were willing to participate in this event to gain a pleasant learning experience and spread the Chinese culture to the world bit by bit. Every bit of trickle would converge into the sea, and therefore greatness existed in openness and inclusiveness.
Speeches were made respectively by relevant persons in charge from the International Office, the School of International Education and Studies, and ZUFE-KESRC, who pointed out that the university has taken multiple measures, from the building of the teachers' team and international cooperation in the construction of disciplines and specialties to consolidate the foundation of this university's international development, and vigorously supported the educational development of international students, constantly promoting two-way exchanges between Chinese and foreign students so as to serve China's Central Asia strategy and advance the school to cultivate international students through cultural education.
It was reported that this project team, with the spirit of the craftsman, spent the winter vacation completing their creation of content, on-site shooting, and video production for the courses during this winter camp . The team walked through seven museums and more than ten real scenes, creating the special course, Jiangnan Culture and Contemporary Zhejiang, with the great charm of China's southern regions of the Yangtze River. This course took language as the carrier, culture as the soul, and time as the axis. From four aspects of "clothing, food, housing, and transportation," it created the content and resources integrating traditional culture and contemporary civilization. According to the path of "language + culture + interaction," this group designed five sections: "Video Guide for Learning," "Chinese Classroom," "Stories Related to Chinese Culture," "Online Interaction," and "Pleasant Learning Show," which were all vivid, interesting, and full of vitality. In the next step, ZUFE will make every effort to build a cluster of majors focusing on the characteristics of Economics and Management, supplemented by multi-dimensional, multi-faceted cultural experiences and practical activities to comprehensively improve the quality and level of international students' training and international education.
"What a beautiful jasmine, what a beautiful jasmine, fragrance and beauty fill every branch，fragrant and white, everyone praises it…," all the teachers and students present sang the household song Jasmine, which pushed the atmosphere of the live broadcast hall in the opening ceremony to a climax. Representatives of international students in the video shooting, Lin Hai (her Chinese name) from Russia and Aisen Luo (his Chinese name) from Uzbekistan respectively gave their speeches. The Russian girl said that she was very excited to participate in a series of shootings for this Chinese Bridge project. As she was wearing Hanfu, the traditional Chinese clothes, and danced along with Jasmine, she was forever inseparable from Chinese culture. Luo expressed that activities of this winter camp were very diverse, and he was very happy to learn about China’s splendid culture with a long history with these teachers. And he believed it would definitely impress every student who was interested in China. Finally, he wished this winter camp a complete success.
"Recalling Jiangnan, the most impressive is Hangzhou. Promenade around the temple, inebriated in laurels under the moon; recumbency on circumvallation, watching the spring tide at noon. How soon can I visit you, Hangzhou?" Although students from every corner of the world are separated by thousands of miles, their hearts are connected together. Wonderful stories were shared via the Cloud, from Taoli Area to Chengxi Area. The opening ceremony was held online and offline simultaneously. Some international students, from the School of International Education & Studies, as well as more than 110 trainees online, all participated in this opening ceremony together. Inside and outside the live broadcast hall were lively discussions and interactions. We hope that this "Dream Trip in Zhejiang"-the Chinese Bridge Online Winter Camp will be a complete success as well.
