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December 4, 2015

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Home » City specials » Ningbo

Students delve into local culture on Ningbo trip

By Ruby Gao | December 4, 2015, Friday | Print Edition

LATE last month, some 400 overseas students at Tongji University’s International School traveled to Ningbo, in east China’s Zhejiang Province, on a two-day trip intended to deepen their understanding of the local culture. The excursion was organized by Shanghai Daily and the Ningbo Tourism Administration.

During the trip, students were taken to Cicheng Town, one of the area’s best-preserved ancient towns. There, the students took part in making distinctive rice cakes and weaving complicate Chinese knots. They were also taken to Nine-Dragon Lake, which is known for its clean and calm waters as well as the beauty of its surrounding mountain scenery.

The International School currently has around 700 students, accounting for about 20 percent of the foreign students now studying at Tongji.

“For us, the biggest challenge teaching Mandarin is that (foreign students) lack a cultural context and language environment, especially as Shanghai becomes more globalized,” said Lu Xin, deputy director of the school’s administration office.

To fill such gaps, the school has organized regular field trips since 1998.

“Our destinations were originally limited to the suburbs of Shanghai. But with increasingly convenient access to neighboring provinces, we’ve gone farther and farther during recent years,” said Lu.

Cheng Yu, a lecturer at the school who attended the trip, gave her students an assignment: to write down their travel experience.

“Many of my students just came to Shanghai three months ago. A historic city like Ningbo, with its natural landscape and cultural legacy, satisfies their curiosity about foreign culture,” explained Cheng.

“I believe that students from different countries have different expectations on this trip. For example, those from Germany are seeking exotic architecture and lifestyle, while those from South Korea may compare Cicheng rice cakes with their own,” Cheng added.

Daria Lrionova, a student from Ukraine, has studied Chinese for almost a year. She tried her hand at making cakes at the Cicheng Rice Cake Museum.

“It’s not as easy as I imagined. The hammer is so heavy!” Lrionova said as she pounded the powdered rice into a soft and sticky mass.

While there are over 100 local recipes for making rice cakes, museum staff say the simplest thing is to wrap them with filling and then steam them. Pickled vegetables, ground soybeans and peanut powder are some of the more popular fillings.

“In my hometown, we have a similar cake, but made from flour — it’s not as sticky as the Cicheng cake, and softer. Usually, we wrap (it) with either savory minced beef and potato or sweet fruits like strawberries. Cicheng cakes, for me, are too sticky to bite. Can I just eat the filling and leave the cake?” asked Lrionova.

Many of Lrionova’s classmates were also impressed by the town’s ancient buildings, some of which date to the Tang Dynasty (AD 618-907). One highlight was the County Examination House, where students learned about China’s ancient imperial examination system.

Nine-Dragon Lake, located about 27 kilometers from downtown Ningbo, was another hit with the students, who braved rainy weather to take in its tranquil splendor.

“It’s so beautiful, and so different from the place I come from. I really enjoy it, even if the weather is bad,” said Andreea Jakab, a student from Romania.

As an overseas student with a love for travel, Lrionova believes it can be difficult for foreigners to have such an enjoyable experience outside of Shanghai.

Ningbo is now trying to make itself more attractive to foreign visitors like Lrionova. To promote the city, the local government recently published an English-language travel magazine with Shanghai Daily. Meanwhile, local authorities are also trying to showcase the city’s history and culture in ways that transcend language.

“A multi-media show named ‘Ming: Great Navigation’ was recently launched at Huake Theater. It uses easily understandable artistic language to tell travellers the history of Ningbo, especially how it became the start of the Maritime Silk Road,” said Tang Hongmei, deputy director of marketing and promotion at the Ningbo Tourism Administration.

Ningbo


 

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