New year’s Eve Dinner, the Spring Festival Gala, writing cuplets, cutting window flowers...These traditional Chinese New Year’s customs are known by an increasing number of foreigners in China.
At the University of Nottingham Ningbo China(UNNC), some international studens are able to experience a warm “Ningbo Year”during the winter vacation in 2022.
We come to the UNNC campus and talk with two foreign students about their new year’s plan. They are Sarah, an undergraduate student studying Linguistics from the U.S., and Sally, a Korean undergraduate student major in Finance, Accounting, and Management.
Sarah and Sally talked about their goal
The two young ladies both have been to China before coming to UNNC and were deeply impressed by the country.
Sarah remembers that her first time in China was to volunteer in Tianjin. She saw the tall buildings and was impress by China’s “metropolis”. Sally has similar feelings, she came to China with her father on busineess and visited several big citie including Shanghai just in a few days. In that case, her first experience in China consisted of rush pace and fast speed.
However, when they actually lived and studied in China, they had a completely different opinions. Ningbo make them find another side of China in addition to the “bustling metropolis”.
“The city is clean, the campus is quiet, there is neither much traffic jam nor crowded subway. We can find a balance between busy city and peaceful life. On weekends and holidays, we can go shopping and buy food in Mingzhouli and Walmart, and also access to the nature, like cycle around Dongqian Lake, climb mountains, take photographies.”Sally said.
Sarah and Sally participated in new year's activities organized by UNNC
Due to the COVID-19, Sarah and Sally are not able to be back home during this winter vacation. Instead, they spend the Spring Festival in Ningbo and have a good time.
On the day of the "Little Chinese New Year's Eve", they went to the Haipeng Farm in Zhangjia Village, Dayan Town, Fenghua District under the organization of UNNC. They put on Hanfu, the traditional Chinese custom and experienced folk activities such as sugar painting, cutting window flowers, making bamboo baskets with local children. They also had a delicious “Chinese New Year’s Eve meal”on campous.
“In the U.S., when it comes to the Chinese food, people only think of the several dishes served in local Chinese restaurant. After coming to China, I realize there are so many choices with different flavors, such as braised, steamed, steeled, and fried. There are not only mordern cities but also traditional culture, beautiful nature, and peaceful countryside in China, which I like very much.”Sarah said.
As for the new year’s goal, Sally will still focus on her studies and try to get good grades. She will visit more places in Ningbo during her free time and hope to travel to Lijiang if the epidemic of COVID-19 were gone. Sarah is going to look for a teaching job in China after graduation with her professional advantages.
Reporter:Yan Jin
Corresponding author：Lily Su
Editor: Xie Linyan
Senior Editor: Zhou Hui
Editorial Director: Zhou Liming
Chief Editor: Wang Ji
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