——Chinese and International Students of DUT Make Hand‑crafted Treats and Gather for Mid‑Autumn Festival
Autumn brings refreshing breezes and sweet osmanthus fragrance. Ahead of the Mid‑Autumn Festival, to promote fine traditional Chinese culture and boost cross‑cultural exchanges among students, the School of International Education at Dalian University of Technology held a Mid‑Autumn cultural experience event. Chinese and international students joined the festive gathering. Through immersive activities, they experienced the unique charm of fine traditional Chinese culture and shared the warm spirit of the full‑moon holiday.
The event kicked off with a distinctive lecture on Mid‑Autumn culture. The two speakers told the romantic legend of Chang’e Flying to the Moon, as well as traditional customs such as moon‑gazing and mooncake‑eating. They vividly introduced the history and cultural meaning behind the festival. The audience listened attentively. Thanks to detailed explanations and lively Q&A interactions, students gained deeper insight into the heritage of Mid‑Autumn Festival, and the venue was filled with strong festive cheer.
Right after the lecture came the much‑anticipated mooncake‑making session. Guided by instructors, students quickly divided up tasks and worked together. Gathered around worktables, they focused on every step: rolling dough, wrapping fillings, and pressing patterns with moulds. Exquisitely patterned mooncakes popped out of moulds, drawing bursts of amazed comments. More than just making traditional food, this activity served as a cross‑linguistic cultural dialogue, bringing Chinese culture to life through hand‑on experience.
As sweet aroma drifted from the ovens, the hand‑crafted lantern‑making activity began. Chinese and overseas students became craftsmen. They assembled frames, pasted lantern surfaces and attached tassels. Helping and adjusting for one another, they turned simple coloured paper and tassels into lovely shapes of rabbits and full moons. When lanterns lit up in their hands, warm yellow light shone on every smiling face and brightened the venue. The romance of the traditional festival took tangible form and became a vivid memory for all participants.
Freshly‑baked golden mooncakes filled the room with rich sweet scent. Participants tasted their homemade treats, chatting cheerfully about fun moments from making mooncakes and lanterns and sharing their thoughts and feelings. From shaping mooncakes by hand to lighting traditional lanterns, this immersive experience turned Mid‑Autumn traditions into tasty memories and warm hand‑made moments. Chinese and international students savoured festival sweetness and drew closer through teamwork. Fine traditional Chinese culture gained new vitality through mutual exchange and learning.
The bright moon shines over rivers worldwide; friendship connects people across the globe. Culture nourishes people quietly like running water. This event combined cultural lectures with hands‑on practice, allowing students to truly appreciate the charm of traditional Chinese festivals through learning and doing. Moving forward, the School of International Education will enrich its cultural‑experience programmes and build platforms for Chinese and international students to learn from each other. Cross‑border friendships will grow through such lively activities, helping nurture outstanding talents with global vision and cultural awareness.
