Chen Siqi

vankochensq@163.com

IZABELA SZEPIETOWSKA from Poland shared her excitement on her WeChat Moments in the early hours of yesterday, exclaiming, “My dream came true!” She attached photos of her visit to the 96th floor of KingKey 100 Tower in Luohu District where visitors could see a panoramic view of Shenzhen.

“Shenzhen has so many tall buildings; it’s such a huge city. I’ve always wanted to visit a tall building. It was an amazing experience, and I could even spot my school from up here,” said Szepietowska, a science teacher from Huamei Foreign Language School in Luohu District, as she stood near the top of the building, overlooking the city.

A group of 12 high-caliber foreign talents from countries including Pakistan, the U.S., Russia, Thailand and Poland stepped away from their podiums, left their offices, and embarked on a journey to Luohu District on Tuesday. They wrapped zongzi, the traditional food for the Dragon Boat Festival, to celebrate the festival, at a public service center of KingKey 100 Tower after having a group tour to the 96th floor of the city’s second-tallest building, which stands at a height of 441.8 meters.

The delegation, organized by the Shenzhen Municipal Science, Technology and Innovation Commission, also paid a visit to the Shenzhen Jewelry Museum, China’s first public museum dedicated to jewelry, showcasing over 2,000 exhibits.

Following a brief introduction to the history of the Dragon Boat Festival and quick explanation of the zongzi-making process, the expats began making their own zongzi, while immersing themselves in delightful conversations with their friends.

“Today, we are celebrating the Dragon Boat Festival. Honestly, every year I got zongzi from my students’ moms and grandmas. For the first time, I tried to make my own zongzi. It’s not easy,” said Szepietowska, who has been living in Shenzhen for eight years. “We always say that if you want to learn about a foreign culture, you should try making their traditional food.”

“We now understand why zongzi is so important in Chinese culture. It allows us to connect with the people of China,” said Dwayne Andrew Folden, an American senior R&D manager at Philips Goldway (Shenzhen) Industrial Inc.

Bobbie Folden, Folden’s wife, enjoyed herself during the event. “I was surprised by how challenging it was to fold the leaves and wrap them tightly. Whoever came up with this method was brilliant,” she said. She also shared her thoughts on the city view from the high-rise building, saying, “Shenzhen is bigger than I thought. We now have a much clearer image of the city.”

The Shenzhen Jewelry Museum made a deep impression on Farah Naz, a Pakistani postdoctoral researcher from Shenzhen University. “There are a lot of very beautiful jewelry, crystals, gold, diamonds and there is even a piece from Pakistan. They did a very global presentation of things,” Naz said.

Maksim Silenko from Russia, a loyal fan of Shenzhen Daily, noticed the launch of the EyeShenzhen multilingual website, run by the newspaper. The website, www.eyeshenzhen.com, now features nine foreign languages, including English and Russian, and is now undergoing a trial operation.

“It’s fascinating that Shenzhen Daily and the Shenzhen government have collaborated to create this website,” Silenko told Shenzhen Daily during the event. He added that for those who are new to Shenzhen, they can check on the website for information about upcoming events, museums, and more. “My suggestion to the website is that it could provide more information regarding legal services, and it would be beneficial if users could reach someone for consultations,” Silenko said.