On October 31st, the 11th World Culture Festival kicks off in Guangdong University of Foreign Studies, including opening ceremony, cuisine corridor and evening gala. Sponsored by GDUFS and organized by the Institute for International Education of GDUFS, the festival aims to enhance the friendship and cultural exchanges between Chinese and international youth.

Students, teachers and consular officers were posing for a group photo. [Photo: Hannah Zhou]

With colorful decorations and gourmet food made by international students, the cuisine corridor attracted many GDUFS students, teachers and consular officers. While enjoying delicious food, dancing, and posing for a photo with models in national dress, participants have strengthened the ties of friendship with each other.

The stand of Colombia.[Photo: Hannah Zhou]

Gourmet food. [Photo provided to Newsgd.com]

Gourmet food. [Photo provided to Newsgd.com]

Gourmet food. [Photo provided to Newsgd.com]

A Turkish student was introducing the food of her motherland.[Photo: Hannah Zhou]

Dancing. [Photo: Hannah Zhou]

A Chinese girl was taking a picture with a student in Mexican national dress.[Photo: Hannah Zhou]

Cai Hong, Dean of the Institute for International Education, hopes that international students could enjoy themselves and that this event would provide a window for all students to experience diverse cultures.

Cai Hong, Dean of the Institute for International Education, expressed her sincere wishes for holding the gala successfully, as well as the gratitude toward institutions that have shown strong support for the festival in both Chinese and English.[Photo provided to Newsgd.com]

At the evening gala, students from multiple nations joined hands to present wonderful performances, such as dancing shows Our Phoenix Rise, Peace and Love, the Nomad Dance. The teaching staff also sent the song My Motherland and Me to the audience.

Our Phoenix Rise.[Photo provided to Newsgd.com]

Peace and Love.[Photo provided to Newsgd.com]

The Nomad Dance.[Photo provided to Newsgd.com]

Teachers were singing My Motherland and Me.[Photo provided to Newsgd.com]

Citlalli comes from Mexico, and she has a Chinese name Jingjing(晶晶). Having been studying Chinese in Jinan University for one year, now she can speak fluent Chinese. “I really like the festival, because here I can find lots of tasty food and beautiful things,” Citlalli said.

Matteo is an Italian student of the Department of Chinese and International Logistics. It is his second year in China, “the school life here is nice,” according to Matteo. He will be studying at GDUFS for three more years and get a banchlor’s degree after graduation.

This fall is the first semester for Maya, a Russian girl just who came to Guangzhou in September. When describing the impression of Guangzhou, she said, “I like the study atmosphere here, the beautiful views of Guangzhou, and the friendly citizens.”

In 1987, GDUFS welcomed its first batch of international students--eight French students came here to study Chinese. In 2018, the figure has grown to 2,355. The international students come from 118 countries and can study different disciplines in this university. Over more than 30 years, international students have become an indispensable part of the internationalization of higher education in GDUFS.

Author: Hannah