This month, Birkbeck’s International experience committee and Chinese Students and Scholars Association (BBK CSSA), hosted a networking event to mark “Dongzhi”, the winter solstice. The event gave Chinese students from the broader community the opportunity to share their experiences of studying in London.
In this blog, Di Luo, Chair of BBK CSSA, discusses the importance of the festival to Chinese people and how attendees marked the occasion.
In Chinese, the winter solstice is called “Dongzhi”, which literally means “the arrival of winter”. The Dongzhi Festival is one of the most important celebrated by the Chinese – as important as Chinese New Year, in fact. It is a time families come together and bond over the preparation of a symbolic dish.
The winter solstice occurs when either of Earth’s poles reaches its maximum tilt away from the Sun. This happens twice yearly, once in each hemisphere (Northern and Southern). In the Northern region of China, to celebrate Dongzhi, people eat fatty dumplings that contain meat and high Yang warming herbs such as ginger and garlic. In the Southern region of China, people gather together to make and tangyuan, a Chinese dessert made with glutinous rice flour, which symbolizes family unity and prosperity.
Due to COVID-19, this year’s celebration at Birkbeck had to be adapted. Nevertheless, we were pleased to see over 25 students from Birkbeck, SOAS, Queen Mary University and Goldsmiths University, who enjoyed the wonderful event. Attendees were served traditional British snacks and Bubble Teas, courtesy of guest Xiaoyu Chang, from Ying Tuan.
The afternoon included a question-and-answer session with an introduction to the College’s facilities. There was also a session on how to study more efficiently, and fun things to do in London, as well as games and quizzes, such as the “who is undercover” game, and a talent show. Zoe Stephens, an MSc International Security and Global Governance student at Birkbeck, introduced herself in SIX different languages, including; English, Mandarin, Korea, Japanese, German and Dutch! It was very entertaining, and congratulations to Zoe on winning one of the prizes. The event was filled with laughs and the sharing of good wishes for 2022 from attendees.
BBK Chinese students and scholars’ association, hereby, on behalf of all Chinese students studying at Birkbeck and our alumni, wishes everyone a happy and warm winter this year, and the very best of the new year of 2022, which will soon be upon us!
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