November 21st witnessed the grand ceremony of the 11th Luojia Autumn International Cultural Festival. The festival, which lasted for two days, offered every WHUer a precious opportunity to communicate with their friends from different countries and regions with distinct cultures.

Comparing with last year’s festival, this year’s one had a much larger scale: with the participation of international students from over one hundred countries, it has attracted a large number of visitors with their featured national dress, dances, music, artworks and delicious food.

In China, it is acknowledged that Wuhan has a close connection and close relationship with France. The friendship between Chinese and French may explain the popularity of the exhibition booth of France, where visitors could enjoy a feast of dessert. When asked about the feeling about this festival, one of the French volunteers said with a big smile: “We are very happy to introduce our food to Chinese people, and it feels great  to see Chinese friends exposed to the French culture.”

The booth of Turkey was another highlight of the festival. Located in the center of the Guiyuan Playground, Turkish students attracted many people’s attention with their colorful national dresses, traditional doner kebab and beautiful music. What really made us delightful was that many Turkish students wore Chinese national flags while their companions wore Turkish national flags. “Of course, I love China. It is my second homeland”, one of the Turkish volunteers said. The Canada booth, where guests could receive delicate souvenirs with its national symbol maple leaf and desserts added with maple sugar, were warmly welcomed, while the Australia booth ,displaying lovely koala and kangaroo dolls, attracted many children who were brought here to experience the exotic cultural atmosphere.

Just like the theme of this festival “One Belt, One Road, One Family”, visitors experienced a great cultural feast from the exhibitions of different countries in Southeast Asia, South Asia, Central Asia and Mid-east Europe. Ukraine, Pakistan and Nepal.

Night falling, Meiyuan Playground was already packed with a dense crowd. Every audience, holding their breath, waited for the coming of evening party, the festive carnival with the theme “The Belt, The Road and The Family”.

The clock struck seven and a group of students from Kazakhstan commenced the party with energetic dances.

Mongolian students surprised us with a combination of traditional dances and acrobatics. Accompanied by “tambourine” (a kind of plucked musical instrument), 13 dancers in Mongolian tunics danced gently to the song “The blue sky in my heart”, which described the azure sky, the water-rich grassland and the ingenuous locals there. It was a eulogy for the grassland and courser. Then the music changed unexpectedly. Two contortionists performed acrobatics. They manipulated and stretched themselves so leisurely that all audiences were stunned by them.

As the cradle of romance, the French dance “Volte-Face” brought out the core essence of French-styled romanticism: concise yet amorous. You could never imagine how charming a combination of single chair, a striped T-shirt and a pair of jeans could be unless you watched their show.

The whole party ended with the Song brought by international students. Overseas students from 16 countries standing on the stage, greeted the audiences in their own postures. Various national flags were waving on the stage and people of different colors all beamed and sang for WHU, their second homeland and the place where they could achieve their dreams.

Wurenbige was a financial management student from Mongolia. It was her second participation in International Culture Festival. Compared with last year’s show, their dance tonight integrated Mongolian tradition and modern style. “It reminds us of our homeland, the vast prairie, herds of horses, the yurts with cream, tea and cheese inside, and our brothers and sisters.”

Li Nayun was the most excited among the cheerful audiences when South Korean students performed their popular hip-pop dance. She is a freshman from South Korea. It is her first year inWHU and she quite enjoys her new life here. Though it is a little hard to learn international trade, she has been gradually accustomed to it. “My parents came to watch tonight’s show with me. We think it’s awesome!” she said with excitement.

As the party was over, the crowd dispersed. Sun Yucheng was still on the stage keeping order. “I was so tired. My whole body is going to shatter the next second”, this girl majored in chemistry made faces. She was a section head of the Association of International Cultural Exchanges, taking charge of dressing and safety issues. “It was just so much fun! All foreigners had good command of Chinese. And they were so cool!” When asked if she would continue to be responsible for the festival next year, she promised “Of course I will!”

It was a cold and chilly night, but with surprise, friendship and joy. As a Chinese saying goes, “A bosom friend afar brings a long distant land near.” Whether on and off the campus, all would look forward to the reunion next year!

(Photo by Xinnan Guo, Edited by Mengtian Wang & Sijia Hu)