“Chinese Family Storytelling for You”, a top-quality course was taught by Language and Culture Center in Zhenjiang, Jiangsu province.
On June 26th, in 2022, “Chinese Family Storytelling for You”, Jiangsu Camp in Zhenjiang was successfully opened. Two teachers from Language and Culture Center of Jiangsu University told overseas Chinese youths about the most representative cultural landscape of Zhenjiang respectively—Xijin Ferry and Jinshan Temple—with the themes of “Travelling to Xijin Ferry and Appreciating Pot Noodles” and “Visiting a Thousand-Year-Old Temple and Appreciating Beautiful Legends”.
Mr. Ding Jinyan explained the historical origins of Xijin Ferry in detail to the overseas Chinese youths by taking a walk in the ancient street of it, introducing the historical allusions to such attractions as the 53 Slopes, Zhaoguan Stone Pagoda, Lifesaving Association, Guanyin Cave, Tiezhu Palace, Daidu Pavilion and Suan Hill especially explaining the origin and methods of pot noodles, one of the “Three Peculiar Things of Zhenjiang”. He also taught the children how to cook a simple version of pot noodles overseas. The Garlic Mountain Scheme of the Three Kingdoms period, Zhang Hu's "The Title of Jinling Ferry" of the Tang Dynasty, Du Qiuniang's "The Golden Wisp" of the Tang Dynasty, Wang Anshi's “Mooring the Boat to Guazhou” of the Song Dynasty, Zhaoguan Stone Pagoda of the Yuan Dynasty, the Lifeguard Association established in the Kangxi period, and the pot noodles that started in the Qianlong period..... The Xijing Ferry’s "one glance for a-thousand-year scenery" really lives up to its name.
Mrs. Li Hongyan shared with the overseas Chinese youths about Jinshan Temple and Jinshan culture in a classroom lecture and interacted with the students. Why does Jinshan Temple own its name? Is there really gold in Jinshan Temple? Why does the door of Jinshan Temple open towards the west? Why did the White Snake flood Jinshan Temple? What are the customs of the Dragon Boat Festival? A series of questions pulled the Chinese youths who were overseas closely. With videos, comic strips and PPTs, Mrs. Li answered their questions vividly with illustrations. The Jinshan Temple and Jinshan culture of Zhenjiang left a deep impression in their hearts. At the end, Mrs. Li also invited an international student and overseas Chinese youths to draw a cute "dumpling baby rowing dragon boat" together.
Through the two lessons, the overseas Chinese youths were able to learn about the iconic cultural landscape of Zhenjiang in detail—the Xijin Ferry and Jinshan Temple. They not only actively interacted with the teacher in class and enthusiastically answered the questions, but also demonstrated their results after class by creating paintings, taking videos and chanting or writing ancient poems.
Language and Culture Center of Jiangsu University is a cultural exchange base for overseas Chinese in Jiangsu Province, and has been responsible for spreading the excellent Chinese culture and Zhenjiang's regional culture. It has successfully hosted the online Zhenjiang camp for overseas Chinese youth for three consecutive years. More than 1,000 young people of descents from 12 overseas Chinese groups (schools) in Australia, the United States, Canada, Spain, Kenya, the Philippines, Japan and Germany participated in this summer camp through the Internet. (Tian Haihong, Language and Culture Center)
