Onthe night of June 3, a party was held by the School of Foreign Language Studies in honor of the Dragon Boat Festival.Foreign friends, faculty members and students of the Schoolof Foreign Language Studies, studentsfrom other majors, assembled in the Student Center.

All were welcomed by hosts and hostesses dressed in Hanfu who presented each guest with realgar wine, colorful threads and a perfume pouch, and they explained to the foreigners that these implied good wishes to ward off evil spirits and bring peace, health and happiness. Foreign friends have a better understanding of the festival, after students played a drama ¡°Dragon Boat Emotion¡± to tell the story of Qu Yuan and the Dragon Boat Festival dating back to about 2,000 years ago.
Wrapping Zongzi was theclimax of the party, full of fun. The students packed the prepared glutinousrice with red dates and peanuts into thereed leaves and then the teachers put on the ropes. Foreigners were extremelyexcited. Even though their Zongzi were in peculiar shapes, they were very proud,showing off their finished Zongzi.

ZhaoZhongye, a foreign student from the Universityof Nottingham, Ningbo, said that he was deeply impressed bysuch a wonderful party, through which he understood a lot of Chinese culture.

Prof. WangDehua, one of the chief sponsors, commented that this party not only carriedforward the Chinese traditional culture, but also promoted the exchanges betweenthe Chinese and foreign friends.