"Experiencing Laba in Langzhong" — International Students and Foreign Teachers in Sichuan Immerse in Spring Festival Folk Culture

From January 6th to 7th, 2025, the "Experiencing Laba in Langzhong" event for international students and foreign teachers in Sichuan, as well as the "World and Sichuan Lecture Series," took place in Langzhong. Liu Quansheng, President of the Sichuan People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, and Ren Jialiang, Deputy Mayor of Nanchong City, attended the event.

In his speech, Liu Quansheng said that the Spring Festival is a grand festival of the Chinese nation, carrying a profound cultural heritage and rich folk customs. It is not only a time for bidding farewell to the old and welcoming the new, and for family reunions, but also embodies the concepts of peace, harmony, and concord. The purpose of this event is to provide international students and foreign teachers in Sichuan with a more direct and in-depth understanding of Spring Festival culture. By using the ancient county of Langzhong and the silk capital of Nanchong as windows, it aims to offer a more objective and comprehensive understanding of Sichuan and China. He encouraged everyone to deeply experience the folk culture of the Spring Festival in the hometown of Chinese Spring Festival culture, to perceive the open, inclusive, and warm Sichuan, and to understand the real, three-dimensional, and comprehensive China. He hoped that they would share the vivid and lively stories of China and the harmonious Chinese culture with their families and more friends; engage in sincere communication and in-depth exchanges, build friendships, and grow together through mutual learning and understanding; and promote the common values of all humanity, becoming practitioners of friendly cooperation, promoters of cultural exchange, and participants in building a community with a shared future for mankind.

"Once Laba is over, the New Year is near." Langzhong is the birthplace of the Chinese Spring Festival, and its Laba Festival is renowned. On the afternoon of January 6th, international students and foreign teachers visited the Langzhong Silk Carpet Museum to experience the traditional silk carpet production techniques, watched shadow puppetry and other fascinating intangible cultural heritage at the Wang Shadow Puppet Museum, visited the Imperial Examination Hall and Zhang Fei Temple, and enjoyed the lantern night tours to experience the Chinese New Year atmosphere and the charm of Spring Festival culture.

On the day of the "Laba Festival," foreign teachers and students entered the ancient city of Langzhong to watch dragon and lion dances, Sichuan opera face-changing, and visit temple fairs. They tasted Laba porridge and Langzhong steamed buns together, made dumplings and enjoyed the New Year's Eve dinner in ancient courtyards. At the Benyuan Hall guesthouse, foreign teachers and students showed great interest and eagerly participated in writing lucky characters and Spring Festival couplets. The rich and colorful activities allowed everyone to immerse in the charm of Chinese intangible cultural heritage while enjoying traditional Chinese cuisine, enhancing their identification with Chinese traditional culture. Everyone fell deeply in love with the Chinese New Year.

At the "World and Sichuan Lecture Series" event, Professor Cai Shangwei from the School of Literature and Journalism at Sichuan University gave a lecture titled "Spring Festival and the World." He shared the origins of the Spring Festival and its impact on the world through numerous historical records and personal stories. Participants listened attentively, took notes, and occasionally interacted with each other. Several representatives of international students and foreign teachers expressed that the charm of Chinese Spring Festival culture is boundless, and they will definitely share the interesting stories of Spring Festival culture and their experiences, thoughts, and feelings in the "hometown of Chinese Spring Festival culture" with their families and friends, allowing more people to understand, approach, and love the Spring Festival.

The event was hosted by the Sichuan People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, the Sichuan Provincial Department of Education, and the Nanchong Municipal People's Government, and organized by the Sichuan Education International Exchange Center, the Nanchong People's Association for Friendship with Foreign Countries, and the Langzhong Municipal People's Government. It aimed to provide international students, foreign teachers, and others with a more direct and in-depth understanding of Spring Festival culture, using the ancient city of Langzhong and the silk capital of Nanchong as windows to objectively and comprehensively understand Sichuan and China.

More than 90 participants, including representatives of international students and Chinese students from six universities such as Sichuan University, University of Electronic Science and Technology of China, Sichuan Normal University, China West Normal University, North Sichuan Medical College, and Nanchong Vocational and Technical College, as well as foreign teachers and heads of related units from 25 countries, attended the event.

Authors: Yi Qinghai, Tang Min