October 28th 2017, the North Campus: The greatest international event was held at GDUFS this year – The 9th World Cultural Festival Evening Gala. Starting on the dot of 7 p.m. in Yunshan Hall on the North Campus, the gala is a shining moment for all the international students and teachers at GDUFS. The theme “Hail Our Stars, Shine Broad & wide” in Chinese brilliantly uses the puns to indicate the success of the 19th National Congress of the Communist Party of China. Teachers and students from all over the world gathered together to enjoy the cultural feast
Glamourous hosts hosted the gala with great passion
With thunderous applauses and wild whistles, the first show Hail Our Stars began. International students’ passionate dancing set the hall on fire and the audience couldn’t help moving along with the beats.
Then it was followed by the International Fashion Show – also brought by students from all around the world. Putting on their traditional clothes, the audience had a taste of the mysterious Saudi Arabia, enthusiastic Columbia, dynamic Spain, and graceful Japan.
Models put on their unique traditional clothes
Dean of the Institute of International Education, LIANG Xuehong, gave a passionate speech in both Chinese and English, expressing his gratitude towards the support from the university and the best wishes for the gala tonight. As the speech ended with constant applause, the 9th World Cultural Festival Evening Gala was officially started.
Keeping up the vibrant vibes, students from Columbia brought Columbia is Passion to the audience. With the changes of background music, boys and girls on the stage shifted their dancing moves effortlessly and freely. And AMARABA by students from Rwanda and Burundi continued to make the audience more excited.
Peaceful Night – performed by students from Sudan – let the audience get a break from the continuous excitement. As the singer’s beautiful and peaceful voice rang all over the hall, time seemed to slow down. The whole place was immersed in a holy atmosphere. After that, Jasa Kazakhstan, The memorial and respect of Thais to King Rama IX Bhumibol Adulyadej and Kyrgyzstan brought by students from Kazakhstan, Thailand and Kyrgyzstan each unfolded their cherished cultures by dancing or singing.
Then the nerve-wracking show Enter the Dragon by Chinese students showed the soul of our universally-liked cultural heritage – Martial Arts – winning them a resounding round of applause.
The magnificent Martial Arts performance
The Chopin: Sonata op.58 Epilogue and the folk song Liuyang River by the special guest – an exceptionally talented pianist – led the audience to sense the beauty of both Chinese culture and western culture with her graceful twiddling.
After the piano performance, Latin Flavour by Mexican students and Arduous Journey by Chinese students were so thrilling and breath-taking that no one was willing to turn their gaze away.
The following show: Happy Chinese Class is definitely one of the greatest shows you wouldn’t want to miss. With the wise use of puns and buzzwords, students from various countries performed the sketch in such a hilarious way that the whole place burst into laughter countless times, pushing the gala to the climax. “They really know a lot about Chinese popular culture and the sketch is so close to real life,” a spectator told us afterwards with big thumbs-up.
The sketch “Happy Chinese” class
After the amusing sketch, there came BOOM BOX performed by Russian students. With the Russian boy playing guitar, the two Russian girls sang mildly. The hall became quiet. The audience drew themselves in, as if the sound were from heaven.
A Moonlit Night on the Spring River was performed by Chinese students. They delivered music by playing Chinese instruments, such as guzheng, erhu, and xiao. “It’s amazing. I have seen these instruments before, but I have never heard the music played with them. I think I know more about Chinese culture now,” a spectator admired, thinking highly of this show.
Before the storm of applause had stopped, another show was staged. Two Korean boys performed Gotta Be You and Me. They sang it in both Chinese and Korean. As the melody of the song was the same with a popular Chinese song, they successfully aroused the echo with the Chinese students. They chorused in some parts.
Then came the dance with changeable style performed by Japan students – Pop Step Japan. First, they performed the traditional dance and they dressed in kimono. Then a group of students dressed like ninjas, holding colorful LED lights, gave a modern and awesome dance.
Just as its name implies, Sound of the Pacific Islands Country was performed by the people from the Pacific Islands. The song sounded soft and gentle.
“The Turnip” Fairy Tale was performed by Russian students, telling a story of pulling a big carrot out of the ground. They delivered the fairy tale by acting some characters vividly, such as a stubborn carrot, some lovely animals, and an old man. They also added their ethnic dance in it, spicing the show up.
The following show was The Band. The Philippine students sang songs passionately. They did make the audience extremely excited, for the audience clapped their hands to beat the rhythm and whistled.
Out of everyone's expectation, the following show was completely different from the last one. Students from South Sudan and Togo performed African Traditional Dance. They sang and danced like the primitive men. “It’s mind-blowing. At first, I think it is very strange and terrible. But gradually I was attracted,” a spectator said.
Where They Are From was performed by Korean students. They danced a traditional dance, showing their culture. Then came the show Hold Tight to Me. It told a love story of two foreign students at GDUFS. They also chorused, singing the praise of the precious time at GDUFS.
Korean students performed a traditional dance
At the end of the gala, all the people stood up to sing the Anthem of GDUFS. The gala ended with the anthem chorusing in the hall.
The gala contained 24 programs, lasting almost three hours, but no one thought it was tedious. On the contrary, they desired more. All in all, the gala was wonderful, and we will cherish our memories of it forever.
