Drafted by Zhou Chenlu; Edited by Zheng Yuyang

Peking Opera and paper cutting, as the quintessence of the Chinese culture, have always been important carriers of inheriting and promoting Chinese traditional culture. In order to enrich the essence of cultural activities of COHD’s international students studying and living in China and strengthen their cross-cultural communication and interactions, based on the original aspiration of creating the COHD Cross-Cultural Carnival (4C) series activities, the 4th session of 4C, with the theme of “A Fantastic Show of Peking Opera and Paper Cutting”, was successfully held in the CIAD auditorium of the West Campus on the morning of November 15th. Over 20 international students coming from different countries, Wang Yanlei, associate professor from the Department of Development Studies and the General Coordinator of MOFCOM Foreign-aid Degree Program, Zheng Yuyang, the head teacher of the 2019 MOFCOM class, together with student assistants, attended this activity. COHD specially invited Mr. Lu Wei, a professional artist of Peking Opera performance as well as the winner of the "Peace Cup" Peking Opera Fans Invitational Competition, and Ms. Lu Hong, an artist of paper cutting, as the guests to attend the activity for bringing a wonderful Peking Opera show and splendid cultural experience sections including DIY Peking Opera facial make-up and paper cutting for the international students.

At the beginning of the activity, the host introduced the background of Peking Opera for the international students, including the origin of Peking Opera, the composition of the performance, and the classification of the roles in Peking Opera. The international students showed their keen interest in such a unique Chinese traditional culture and actively participated in the interaction. Later, through the melodious opera music, the Peking Opera artist, Mr. Lu Wei, walked slowly toward the center of the stage within his clear and euphemistic singing and the delicate posture. All the present teachers and students concentrated on the master’s wonderful performance and immersed themselves in the atmosphere. After the performance, Mr. Lu Wei introduced the detailed context and background stories of the specific piece of opera.In order to let the international students get closer to the charming of Chinese traditional culture, Mr. Lu Wei kindly invited them to come to the stage and dress up the costumes, while elaborating the role implications in the representation of each costume and vividly showing the different movements and body languages in the role of Tsing Yi.The international students’ learning enthusiasm towards Peking Opera were greatly enhanced, which pushed the atmosphere on-spot to the climax.

During the DIY section, the host introduced the specific artistry of Peking Opera facial make-up and papercutting, which are both the Chinese traditional handicrafts selected into the World Intangible Cultural Heritage List, including the different characteristics represented by different colors of the facial make-up, as well as the origins and development of papercutting. Ms. Lu Hong, the artist of papercutting, showed the Chinese zodiacs in the form of Chinese traditional paper cuttings to the audience, which made all the present international students marveling at that only using a pair of scissors and a piece of paper could create such a beautiful work and genuinely impressed by the charming of this artistic form. Following the guidance of Ms. Lu Hong, a lot of international students produced their own satisfactory works. Later, after listening to the elaboration given by the Peking Opera artist, Mr. Lu Wei, the students carefully created their own facial masks to physically experience the wonderful process of producing Chinese traditional handicrafts.

At the end of the activity, the host gave a prize-giving quiz to the international students of the different roles in Peking Opera facial make-up and the specific knowledge towards papercutting. The international students answered the questions actively and the winners obtained beautiful papercutting works as a reward given by Ms. Lu Hong. The whole carnival lasted for three hours with a perfect conclusion when the international students held their own hand-made facial masks and papercutting works to take pictures with the teachers and guests on the scene.

COHD has always beening attaching great importance to the cultivation of international students.The founding principle of the series activities in COHD Cross-Cultural Carnival is to help international students enrich their cultural life in China and promote the mutual exchange and interactions between different cultures, so as to enhance the cultivation of their cultural cognition and sense of belonging.This session of 4C focuses on the promotion and dissemination of Chinese traditional culture, which makes the international students experience the extensive and profound essence of Chinese culture in person, improve their cognition and aesthetic taste towards excellent traditional culture, and enhance their sense of mission as cultural ambassadors between China and the “Belt and Road” countries.