On November 18th, the eighth annual Luojia Golden Autumn International Cultural Festival had its opening ceremony at Wuhan University. More than 2000 students from more than 70 countries and regions, put on colorful ethnic attire and gathered at the Guiyuan and the Meiyuan playgrounds to showcase their national culture and art through dancing, food and handcrafts. During the nighttime performance, 300 students from 40 countries put on a fantastic show for the audience.

Starting at 10 am in the morning, Guiyuan playground was filled with large crowds of people. Foreign students from about 80 countries took part by setting up booths to showcase their homeland and sell their traditional cuisine.

During the festival, a group of Korean students performed the trendy  “Gangnam Style” dance, which was particularly popular amongst the crowd. Indian students presented to the visitors “kathkali” opera models which took them several months to complete. One medical student Ramirez explained “kathkali is one of India’s four classic dances. It represents our culture. Even Indian poet Tagore liked it”.

WHU’s Luojia Golden Autumn International Cultural Festival has been held since 2004. The activities have expanded from just art performances to include an international culture exhibition and an international cooperative forum. The festival has served as a bridge connecting foreign students in Hubei and plays an important role in strengthening ties between them.