On the afternoon of May 21, the 9th International Cultural Festival (ICF) of Zhejiang University of Technology (ZJUT), presented by the International College of ZJUT, wrapped up at the Pingfeng Campus of the university with the participation of students from 17 countries. 

The festival was divided into 2 parts, including a Theme Booth Garden Party and a series of primary activities. The former consisted of 17 booths from countries, such as China, the Democratic Republic of the Congo, Morocco, Madagascar, Sierra Leone, Republic of the Congo, Zambia, Korea, Turkmenistan, Zimbabwe, Kenya, Tanzania, Nigeria, Nepal, and Ukraine. The latter included an opening ceremony, a stage show, a music festival themed "Window of the World" and a closing ceremony.

This year, the theme was "Window of the World" which implicates that the festival resembles a window that people can see and experience the rich and colorful cultures from different countries throughout the world. And another innovative initiative was that the "iPioneer Team" was established for the first time this year. "i" represents "international" which means that the volunteer group is formed from international volunteers. At the same time, "i" shares a similar pronunciation with the "love"(爱) in Chinese with the aim of loving and caring about everyone around. The slogan goes that "I care, I help, I make a difference.", which stands for the school’s expectation to warm the world through volunteers' acts of kindness. 

Last year's ICF was held online because of the COVID-19. For this year, the 9th ICF was carried out off-line and begun with an exciting dance presented by students from China and other countries. Then, accompanied by the music, international students dressed in their own costumes came to the stage. The open-air music festival, a crucial program in performance, lighted up the atmosphere for the night. The performance lasted 2.5 hours which were emotive, dynamic, and rapturous, bringing a feast for the eyes and ears. And beyond that, the Theme Booth Garden Party was in full swing. It added the booth of Chinese traditional culture experience, Chinese Tea, Chinese food, and Liangzhu Culture society this year. Each booth was so amazing as the traditional food of each country as well as interesting games attracted students coming in an endless stream. Regardless of race, gender, color, and language, they just engaged in and enjoyed themselves. 

Amidst the jubilant crowd of various nations represented, we embarked on a casual interview with students of the activity.

A student from Morocco who participated in the ICF for the first time said that the ICF is a good way to unite different cultures and people that lived in the Chinese community. He also expressed his satisfaction with living and studying in Zhejiang as he made a lot of friends here and received support from his teachers and classmates.

A Chinese student also indicated that in this activity, they have learned about other cultures and spread Chinese culture to the international students at the same time. During the preparation of the activity, they cooperated with foreign students and understood each other’s culture more deeply. It also gave them an opportunity to broaden their horizons to meet the different cultures in a more decent way when they enter into society.

As a window to demonstrate a harmonious international campus, the 9th ICF of ZJUT, a multicultural activity, has been dedicated to showcasing brilliant cultures around the world, integrating different students and cultures into one to promote the understanding of each civilization. We are looking forward to the next ICF.

Text: Ding Binjie

Video: Ye Ke

Edit: Ye Ke