To prepare for an exam that was scheduled close to the Chinese New Year, Guo Xiangcheng, a graduate from No. 3 Senior High School of Shenzhen who is studying at Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma in Rome, Italy, chose to stay on the foreign soil this Chinese New Year, just like tens of millions of other Chinese.

However, Guo didn’t feel the slightest bit of loneliness. She and her Chinese friends brought the festive mood of the Chinese New Year to their Italian counterparts at the Italian school.

Guo said that “home-cooked” Chinese food was a huge hit with their guests. To make sure that their schoolmates tasted authentic Chinese food, she and her Chinese friends cooked classic Chinese snacks and delicacies including dumplings, steamed stuffed buns, fried spring rolls, fried tofu, and rice with braised pork. The Chinese food not only relieved Chinese students’ homesickness but also won the hearts of foreign students.

In helping students from other countries understand Chinese culture, Chinese students at the university displayed their art works including Chinese calligraphy, paintings, paper-cuts, traditional Chinese clothing and handicrafts.

Learning that the year 2018 is the Year of the Dog, many foreign students were curious about their own zodiac signs.

Therefore, there was hilarious conversations like, “I am a horse, what are you?” “I am a monkey.”

The event was supported by the Education Department of the Chinese Embassy in Italy and Chinese Students and Scholars Union in Italy. Chen Zhaoyan, president of the Student Union of Accademia di Belle Arti di Roma, said, “Our school used to host painting exhibitions on Chinese and Italian students’ works, however, Chinese students were not organizers. This time we are the hosts and initiators.”

(Yang Mei)