NCI celebrates Dragon Boat Festival

14/6/2019

6 June saw over 60 Nottingham staff, students and local residents attend the “Zongzi and Perfume Sachet Making Workshop” at the Si Yuan Centre. The event was organised by NCI in celebration of the Dragon Boat Festival, one of the major traditional Chinese festivals.

The workshop was led by NCI teacher Miss Shanshan Chen, with strong support from three volunteer teachers. After an introduction to the origin of the Dragon Boat Festival and its customs by Shanshan, participants began making perfume sachets under careful supervision of the volunteer teachers. Stitching the sachets and stuffing them with cotton wool and perfumed flowers turned out not to be as easy it looked for many students, but they clearly enjoyed themselves and had some great work to show for it!

The making of rice dumplings (‘zongszi’) was the next challenge: rice and various ingredients such as dates and marinated pork wrapped in bamboo leaves. The group were amazed to see the food transformed into zongzi by Shanshan and Luyao within seconds. Most, including many Chinese students, stated they’d never made rice dumplings before and were eager to have a go themselves.

The best part of the celebration was of course sharing the cooked rice dumplings! Many of the participants also took their sachet handicraft home as souvenirs.

~ENDS~

“香囊寄情，粽叶飘香”

——诺丁汉大学孔子学院举行端午节汉语角活动

文/王梦迪      图/马路遥

       “玉粽袭香千舸竞，艾叶黄酒可驱邪。”农历五月初五是传统佳节端午节，值此端午佳节之际，诺丁汉大学孔子学院举行了“Zongzi（Rice Dumpling）&Perfume Sachets Making Workshop at NCI”（粽子和香囊制作工作坊），让中外同学在品尝美味粽子、交流汉语的同时，增进对中华传统文化知识的了解。

       当地时间6月6日晚上六点三十分，诺丁汉大学思源中心A18室人头攒动。到场的六十余位中外同学都好奇的打量着眼前桌上的物品：花布、针线、棉花、香料，干花……在大家期待的目光中，主持人陈珊珊老师宣布活动正式开始。首先，她为大家简单介绍了端午节的历史故事与风俗。然后，她讲解了本次活动的规则：我们为每个小组安排了一位志愿者老师，带领大家一起交流讨论，学做端午香囊。大家在兴奋的讨论中开始动手制作香囊，一个个穿针引线细细缝制，忙得不亦乐乎。

接着，完成香囊制作的小组便开始学习包粽子。诺丁汉大学孔子学院的老师们为大家准备了泡好的糯米及粽叶、蜜枣、腌好的五花肉等食材。陈珊珊老师和马路遥老师带领大家动手学习包粽子。粽叶在她们灵巧的双手中上下翻飞，不一会儿，一个精巧可爱的小粽子就诞生了。不少外国朋友叹为观止，也迫不及待地开始了自己和中国粽子的第一次零距离接触。

       最后，大家一起了分享煮熟的美味粽子，在欢声笑语中为本次活动画上了一个圆满的句号。在此次端午节汉语角活动中，中外同学共聚一堂，亲身体验了中国传统文化的魅力；结交了朋友，品尝了美食，收获了知识，大家共度了一个美好难忘的端午节。