From 15 July until 17 July, UIC welcomed 34 international students from Hong Kong Baptist University. For three days the students came to experience, learn and get a feeling for traditional Chinese culture and art. They experienced a traditional tea ceremony, took part in Tai Chi, and watched a Peking Opera in addition to visiting the Museum of Dr Sun Yat-Sen. Also the students visited Putuo Monastery as well as other scenic spots while learning about the history of civilization and development of Zhuhai.
These 34 international exchange students came from Hong Kong Baptist University partnering universities in the US, UK, Canada, Singapore and South Korea. These students came to Hong Kong Baptist University on 6 July and will stay until 3 August. During their summer programme in HKBU, they were taken into Zhuhai to learn more about Mainland China. This was the second time that UIC and Hong Kong Baptist University have collaborated to offer the international exchange students this opportunity and experience. UIC’s Academy of Continuing Education department was behind the organization and arranging of activities for these exchange students while they visited Zhuhai.
On the evening of 15 July, the HKBU international exchange students were given an introduction. After that they were given a lecture by Director of Whole Person Education Office at UIC, Dr Guo Haipeng. He talked to the students and gave them a seminar on “From Confucianism to Whole Person Education”.
Afterwards, Ms Li Hui, a teaching assistant from the Government and International Relations programme, introduced the tea culture to the HKBU international exchange students. She mentioned the important steps to performing this ancient Chinese tradition and gave a live performance.
During their second day the HKBU international exchange students got to learn about Tai Chi from WPEO Facilitator, Andy Boyu Lin. Afterward learning Tai Chi, they went on to visit the former residence of Sun Yat-Sen. Later on they got the chance to go and see the Gongbei mall and got the opportunity to taste the local cuisine that Zhuhai has to offer.
On their last day, Associate Professor of Chinese Language and Culture Centre as well as Associate Director of RICC Dr Andy Fung introduced the HKBU international exchange students to Peking Opera as well as providing a workshop to teach the visiting students how to create their own Peking creation mask. After they had created their own masks they went for a trip to the Putuo Monastery before catching the ferry home.
The feedback from the international students was very positive as Dean Byron Iyavoo who originally studied at Aberystwyth University (UK) said that “At HKBU, I am studying philosophy and there is much correlation between the philosophy and Tai chi. I enjoy the fact that I can learn about Chinese philosophy and implement it”. Dean went on to say “It was nice to learn about the history of tea. I was surprised that you should rinse tea before you drink it. I really enjoyed it.”
Tyler James Williamson who originally studied at Trent University (Canada) enjoyed the visit and said “I like the idea of developing the sense of wholeness. I would like to see WPE courses being taught in Canada. Liberal arts and learning about life is really important.”
Editor: Samuel Burgess (MPRO)
Photographer: Huimin Qin (ACE) & Hiu Yan Hung (HKBU)
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