On the afternoon of June 17, 2025, a cultural feast combining oriental elegance and folk ingenuity - “Silk Rhythm and Paper Shadow - Perceiving China” International Students' Non-heritage Culture Course Achievement Exhibition was successfully held in the first floor hall of the West Annex Building of the Training Center of our university. The event was successfully held in the hall of the west annex building of our training center. This activity is co-sponsored by the International College and the College of Education, Binzhou Foreign Affairs Office Translation Center, non-heritage culture inheritance and innovation of scientific research team, Binzhou City, modern original art research institute, aims to show the fruitful results of international students to learn China's intangible cultural heritage, and promote the exchange and mutual understanding of Chinese and foreign civilizations. Relevant department heads, teachers and students representatives of the two colleges gathered together to share this cultural dialogue across the millennium.

The Guqin's clear sound spreads wisdom

The event opened with the melodious sound of the Guqin. As the first of the four traditional Chinese arts of “qin, chess, calligraphy and painting”, the guqin instantly brought the audience into the world of oriental aesthetics of serenity and distance with its subtle and distant sound and long meaning. Under the careful guidance of Mr. Sun Xiaopeng from the College of Education, a core member of the team, seven outstanding international students from the “Chinese + Guqin” program appeared on the stage one by one, and their fingertips flowed with classic Guqin pieces. They not only demonstrated the exquisite fingering skills they acquired from scratch, but also shared their feelings about learning and the meaning of the pieces in short Chinese, perfectly integrating language learning with artistic practice, winning applause from the audience.

Paper-cutting reflects China

The sound of the piano fades away, and the paper shadows move around. The audience's eyes were immediately attracted by the colorful and ingenious paper-cutting works. This is the work of the international students of the “Chinese + Paper Cutting” program of the International College. Under the careful guidance of Prof. Zhang Lin from the College of Education, 18 international students from many countries, after 28 hours of study, from being rusty to moving with the paper, finally completed the 156 works in this exhibition. The exhibition is divided by authors, clearly displaying the results of the trainees' mastery of the four core skills: monochrome cutting and carving, three-dimensional shaping, color collage, and topography. Beside each piece of artwork, the creator introduced the background and experience of creation in Chinese, and interacted with Chinese and foreign teachers and students enthusiastically. Paper-cutting, a folk art that also carries the honor of “Intangible Cultural Heritage of Humanity”, was revitalized in the hands of the international students and became a bridge of cultural communication.

Recognition and Incentives for Exchange

The highlight of the exhibition was a grand award ceremony. In order to recognize the outstanding performance and significant progress made by the international students in the study of non-genetic inheritance, awards were presented to those who excelled in guqin performance and paper-cutting creation. The award-winning students went on stage one by one and received the honorary certificates from the leaders. The thunderous applause on the spot was not only the praise for the students' talents and efforts, but also the high respect for the hard work and professional contribution of the two instructors, Sun Xiaopeng and Zhang Lin, in the teaching, research and inheritance of non-heritage.

Cultural Mingling Increases Friendship

This exhibition is not only a vivid report on the effectiveness of the teaching of our “Chinese + Non-heritage” specialty program, but also a valuable platform for cross-cultural interaction. Through hands-on practice, international students enhanced their sense of identity and belonging to the excellent traditional Chinese culture in the immersive learning environment constructed by the team; Chinese and foreign teachers and students deepened their mutual understanding and enhanced their friendship during the exhibition and exchanges. At the end of the activity, all the students, creators, leaders, guests and team representatives took a group photo to commemorate the beautiful moments of cultural integration and inheritance and innovation.

Although the activity has come to an end, but the charm of Chinese intangible cultural heritage and the exploration of research and inheritance never stop. This event of “Silk Rhythm and Paper Shadow” has added a colorful touch to the international campus of our university, and has also contributed to the promotion of Chinese excellent traditional culture to the world.