(International students hold posters of "Daka China" Event, Photo/Ye Ke)

The idea of “harmony” has shaped China’s cultural traditions, politics, and foreign policies for centuries. As it’s known to all, the cultural values of a country greatly influence its national psychology and identity. Had you traveled across China,  you would have found out that the concept of “harmony” has deeply rooted in the psyche of every Chinese citizen.

In East China’s Zhejiang Province, there is a city called Taizhou which is seen as an important source of China’s harmonious culture or “Hehe culture”, in the Chinese language. The city of Taizhou is named after the Tiantai Mountain, which is famous for its beautiful scenery and for being one of the cradles of Chinese Buddhism. 

(Theme poster of "Daka China @Taizhou" Global Communication Event, Design/Ding Yujie)

From September 29 to 30, a group of international students with diverse national and cultural backgrounds joined a travel tour called “Daka China” Global Communication Event and visited Linhai, a county-level city of Taizhou, and was formerly the city’s political and cultural center. 

The Linhai Ancient Great Wall, a local important heritage site of Taizhou City has deeply impressed those foreign students. A local pedestrian stopped and shared the history of the ancient wall, saying that the wall was built during China’s Ming Dynasty, for the purpose to fight against invasions and resisting floods. And the wall is also famous for its semi-arched exterior and a square interior, which is rare in China.

(International students are listening to the introduction about Taizhou City, Photo/Ye Ke)

The group of students coming from Pakistan, Georgia, Russia, Tajikistan, and many other countries along the Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), shared their feelings after the trip, saying that the landscapes of Taizhou are marvelous and Chinese people are benevolence, righteousness, courtesy, wisdom, honesty, loyalty, and filial piety, which has left them deep impressions. 

The “Daka China” Global Communication Event is a yearlong global communication program initiated by the "Daka China Studio", a cross-cultural service studio of the "In Zhejiang" English website. The program is launched for the purpose to bring expats and local Chinese communities closer through a wide range of cultural activities and folklore visits. As an important cross-cultural service program, “Daka China” hopes to help more expats living in China to better adapt to Chinese society and encourages them to share their Chinese stories to the world from their own perspectives. 

Correspondent: Ye Ke