Zhang Qian

    zhqcindy@163.com

    A WEEKEND carnival celebrating Korean culture took place at the Donghai Community of Xiangmihu Subdistrict in Futian District, bringing loads of Korean-style performances, traditional clothing, foods and products.

    The three-day event kicked off with an array of exhibitions of Korean painting, calligraphy and customs Friday. Many residents living in the community joined the activities, including trying on traditional Korean clothing and making rice cakes and Korean-style Sushi, called Kimbap.

    “Even though we live in the same community, we don’t have much communication with our Korean neighbors, so it is a meaningful event for us to join in,” said a Chinese resident surnamed Wu.

    Wu said she enjoyed putting on traditional Korean clothing and taking pictures in front of a painting of a Korean palace. She said it matched her vision of South Korea from the Korean TV dramas she watches.

    Food stalls were among the most popular display areas at the Donghai City Plaza where the carnival took place. Many Korean restaurants set up stalls in the square.

    A group of Korean residents from a Shenzhen-based Korean soccer club set up a stall to sell rice cakes, fried chicken, seafood pancakes and other well-known Korean food in the plaza Saturday.

    “Most of the customers we have had so far are Chinese and they are interested in trying authentic Korean food,” said one of the chefs at the stall, surnamed Kim. “I think people are coming to the carnival because they like Korean pop culture.”

    Kim said the 60-member soccer club may be the largest Korean soccer club in Guangdong Province. “We play in Nanshan District every week, even in bad weather. It’s an opportunity to get together and share our lives.”

    Kim has been living in Shenzhen for nearly a decade and can speak fluent Mandarin.

    “The Korean population here is not as big as in Beijing, Tianjin and Qingdao, but Shenzhen is a good place to live,” Kim said Saturday.

    The Donghai Community is one of the largest foreign-resident communities in Shenzhen, with expats mostly from South Korea.

    There are more than 1,000 South Korean residents from about 300 families living in the Donghai Community and most of them are doing business or work at big corporations in Shenzhen, according to Xie Hong, a member of the CPC committee of Xiangmihu Subdistrict in Futian District.