On October 29, the 7th International Cultural Festival of Donghua University (DHU) was held at the Yan’an Road campus, gathering over one thousand teachers and students to appreciate the cultural features displayed by international students from 32 countries. The participants include Mr. Wang Tiankai, Chairman of International Textile Manufacturers Federation and Former President of China National Textile and Apparel Council, who graduated from DHU in 1969 as a major in chemical fiber, and Vice President Liu Chunhong of DHU, as well as consulate representatives of Cambodia, Indonesia and other countries, representatives of enterprises for practice of international students, international alumni and on-campus teachers and students.
Mr. Wang Tiankai first declared the opening of the International Cultural Festival, followed by a fashion show as warm-up, in which the international students from 32 countries were dressed in traditional costume with ethnic features.
(Mr. Wang Tiankai declared the opening of the Festival)
Then Vice President Liu Chunhong extended a warm welcome to guests from consulates, enterprises and institutions. She said that DHU has persistently attached great importance to international exchange and cooperation, especially the cultivation of international students, since its founding 66 years ago, based on which the over 30,000 international alumni have performed well in areas such as education and culture, international trade and government affairs in their respective countries, playing an important role in boosting their national development and China-foreign exchange. In recent years, in response to the Belt and Road Initiative, the construction of Shanghai International Fashion Innovation Center and Free Trade Zone, and the aim to build the world-class university and first-class discipline, DHU has defined the tasks and objectives for education of international students, striving to improve the educational quality constantly. It’s worth mentioning that DHU was one of first 27 universities that obtained the quality accreditation for international student education.
(Liu Chunhong delivered a speech at the ceremony)
(International students displayed their cultures)
In the following exhibition, the international students dressed in festive costume showed their costumes, pictures, food and handicrafts enthusiastically, enabling the visitors to immediately appreciate local customs and practices of the five continents: mysterious African woodcarving, steaming South Korean Kimchi cake, Tasty Turkish doner kebab, Malaysian snacks, Mexican tacos, Pakistani hand-painted works, Uruguayan crystals, Iranian saffron, Indonesian coffee, etc. The international students also staged the most brilliant performances.
(Exchange and interaction between Chinese and foreign teachers and students)
Besides, Dean Gu Bohong of the International Cultural Exchange School announced the decision to establish and unveiled the DHU International Alumni Homecoming Day.
(DHU International Alumni Homecoming Day was established)
It is learnt that DHU has increased a large number of programs with respect to high-level education of international students, which cover multiple disciplines such as textiles, materials, information, computer science, chemical engineering, environment and management. And in 2018, The Belt and Road Initiative – Optical Engineering (New Energy Material & Device) Master Program taught in English will be started, which is oriented at students from countries along the route ofthe Initiative. The Program was also unveiled during the festival.
(New master program for international students was unveiled)
In order to shape the International Cultural Festival into a branding event, DHU solicited the logo from all international students. Eventually, Indonesian student Lin Zhaoli stood out from the competition.
It’s the 7th time for DHU to hold the biennial International Cultural Festival since May, 2007,whichhas become a key cultural event for cross-cultural communication between both domestic and overseas students of DHU.
