Welcome to China is an activity organized by the Tongji Jiading Library, which is aimed to let foreign students experience traditional Chinese culture. The first activity in this semester was held on September 26th at 7:00pm in Room 1424 on the 14th floor of the library.

In the activity, we met new international students and make friends with them. We got into the world of Chinese Opera Mask, which has a long history of over thousands of years, and we learned about the traditional Chinese culture. Moreover, Chinese students and international students drew Chinese Opera Mask together and enjoyed the wonderful night.

Chinese Opera Masks that you see on the faces of Chinese Opera performers are types of facial makeup art on stage performance. Chinese Opera Mask is a special Chinese culture with a long history, people could know the different characters by different colors and patterns of the Chinese Opera Mask. Therefore, it is an important part of the Chinese Opera.

In this activity, we invited a Chinese student to introduce the history, types and meanings of colors used in masks of the Chinese Opera Mask. Then we played a video about how to draw the Chinese Opera Masks. Finally, international students tried to draw the Chinese Opera Masks by themselves.

Some students depict the traditional Chinese historical figures according to the given picture, such as Cheng Yaojin and Zhao Kuangyin. Others drew the Chinese Opera Masks freely, they used their favorite colors and imaginative patterns to draw characteristic Opera Masks.

This activity coincides with the 70th anniversary of the Nation Day. Chinese and international students took photos together with the flag of China and expressed their affection to China. Many students put on their Chinese Opera Masks to show their love about them. Through this activity, students from different countries made friends with each other and sent best wishes for China’s prosperity. We all looking forward to the next activity!