Cultural Exchange in a Very International Tea Garden - Field Trip For the International Students in The College of International Education
It’s spring. With an invitation from Zhejiang Zhanqun Agricultural Development Company in hand and led by Professor Wang Xiao & Fang Ling, 50 international students set off on 5th March for a journey of exploration into Chinese customs and culture. Cameroonian, Pakistani, Turkish, Sudanese and international students from many other countries took part in this tea-themed outing which was organized by Terence Fu, the counselor for the international students.
One Flower, One world
Zhejiang Zhanqun International Tea Garden is located in the National-Level Agricultural High-Tech Park in Jinhua, Zhejiang Province. It has a total area of more than 19 acres and boasts a range of more than 1000 types of tea leaves. It is also home to the festive-looking “Red Pagoda”(Dahong Baota), the unconventional “Little Peach” (Xiao Taohong) as well as the fresh “Seven Cornered White” (Liu Jiaobai).With each step in this tranquil garden a new sight appeared,the sheer number of different types of flowers was enough to leave the students in awe.
Cameroonian student Haierfei was particularly fascinated by the flower petals that seemed to endlessly float down from the trees; “ It seems that after coming to China this is the first time I've seen so many different types of flowers. In China they care a lot about planting and caring for these amazing flowers, much more so than in my country. Sometimes i think living in ZJNU is just like living in a big garden, I really don’t want to leave China or ZJNU”. While Haierfei was saying this a group of international students were gathering around Fang Ling otherwise known as “Mother Teacher”. Mrs.Fang is responsible for each and every international student’s first year of Chinese study here at the school. Whether it be because of her tutoring in class or caring for her students outside of the classroom, she is like a Mother in the hearts of our university’s international students. She can often be seen in class patiently teaching students tones of the Chinese language and leading the class with her passion and a voice full of emotion.After seeing a few geese paddling around a small pond in the tea garden she decided to lead the students line by line through 《These Geese》 a famous Chinese poem by Luo Binwang.
In a small corner of the tea garden our international students were lucky enough to watch an artist create beautiful art pieces right before their very eyes. With strong but delicate brushes words and images about galloping stallions slowly began to appear on the canvas. The calligraphy mixed with traditional Chinese painting and the tea ceremony created a strong sense of Chinese culture. Chen Zhen, a Turkish international student said he felt drawn by the traditional Chinese painting, even having an urge to just stand and admire the pieces on display. Ever since coming to China Chen Zhen fell in love with this country and he even aspires to know everything there is about China. He has not only studied the Chinese language at ZJNU but he has also taken an interest in Sinology, Kung Fu,Taichi and even on his days off Chen Zhen likes to attend classes about Chinese Folklore. “The calligraphers here at the tea garden have given me so much inspiration. Everything about China just attracts me, not just because it’s new to me but because after studying here at ZJNU i feel like the qualities of everything Chinese has somehow become a part of me”. “ I’m so glad to have a chance to experience this, smelling the fragrant scent of tea, flowers and books, not to mention a chance to see the delicate and precise art here. I definitely didn’t waste this weekend!” A friend, very similar to Chen Zhen in that he too has a name with a certain “Chinese quality” , Jackie Chan (Cheng long) also has a very strong interest in Chinese tea. He carefully studied and copied the actions of how to serve tea in a real tea ceremony.
“Even the way Chinese hold the cup while drinking has a certain science to it. for example,The gripping method where there are two fingers on the top, three fingers on the bottom is called “Three dragons carrying the cauldron”(Sanlong Juding). Mu Mian is an experienced Tea teacher from Mulian company who was invited by The International College. She explained the methods and etiquette of pouring, brewing and drinking tea. The students managed to understand and experience Chinese tea culture on a much deeper level. Zhanqun Agriculutral Development Company arranged a marvelous Jinhua style lunch, complete with Jinhua pastries and Jinhua meatballs, it’s safe to say the students loved the food!
