2025-05-29│ Secretariat’s Office To promote traditional Chinese festival culture and enhance international students' understanding and participation in Dragon Boat Festival customs, CHU's International Academy recently held an "International Students' Dragon Boat Festival Celebration." The event specially featured tea ceremony, allowing students to experience the essence of Eastern culture through tea tasting, further understanding the history and significance behind the Dragon Boat Festival, creating a festive atmosphere that was both warm and rich in cultural heritage.

The event opened with students performing "Team Taiwan" singing and dancing as a warm-up, along with team-building ice-breaker games. Through fun challenges like "Dragon Boat Festival Knowledge Q&A" and "Rice Dumpling Making Team," the activities promoted exchange and cooperation among international students. Additionally, students brewed tea as a substitute for traditional realgar wine, learning about tea culture and tea ceremony etiquette, experiencing Eastern aesthetics and life philosophy through the tea's aroma while enjoying delicious traditional rice dumpling with meat which received enthusiastic responses from students.

Photo/Students from Vietnam actively participated in the Q&A activity, creating a lively and extraordinary scene.

Amy Chuang, Director of Student Affairs for the International Division, stated that this event attracted 190 students from Thailand, Vietnam, Japan, Malaysia, Mongolia, South Africa, Zimbabwe, Botswana, and other countries, creating an extraordinarily lively scene. The university hopes that through such cultural activities, international students can not only deeply experience the spirit of Taiwan's traditional festivals, but also encourage the younger generation to cherish cultural heritage, making festivals not merely days off for rest, but important moments that carry historical memory and cultural value.

Photo/Marco, a student from South Africa (2nd from left), takes the stage to experience making rice dumpling, finding it fresh and interesting.

Marco, a student from South Africa, shared that he had just arrived in Taiwan a few months ago, and this was his first time participating in such an interesting festival activity. From making rice dumpling to learning tea brewing, these were all experiences he had never had in South Africa. This opened his eyes as someone who loves Chinese culture, and he hopes to participate in more similar activities in the future. Tingting Hong from Thailand expressed that although Thailand does not widely celebrate the Dragon Boat Festival, some Chinese communities still preserve traditional customs like eating rice dumpling and dragon boat racing. Therefore, being able to participate in such a grand Dragon Boat Festival activity at school made her feel especially warm and happy, and also allowed her to gain deeper understanding of the cultural significance behind the festival.