The Cherry Blossom Festival welcomes guest from all over the country, while WHU departments and student societies host events to enliven the university.
Wandering around the campus, visitors can enjoy not only a visual extravaganza of cherry blossoms, photography exhibitions and student talent shows, but also an acoustic feast from the University Chorus and the Original Music Association.
Xichen Xiao, a sophomore from the College of Life Science, went to the photography exhibition held near the campus’ Central Lake. As an amateur photographer, he commented that the exhibits were carefully selected from high level work. He was particularly impressed by a photo taken by Jian Li, WHU's former Chair of the University Council. “I didn’t expect that Li was so proficient in photography. The photograph of the Shoton festival (a Tibetan festival celebrating eating yogurt) is extraordinary, and the scene is rather grand. Other pictures concerning the daily life of the Tibetan people are also vivid and expressive.”
Near the Songqing Gym, students of the Calligraphy and Painting Association and several retired professors from WHU organized a market to sell their works. All the money from the market will be donated to students from less developed regions. Kaijin Li, now in his 80s, was previously a professor of College of Chinese Language and Literature. He practices calligraphy as a hobby and attends Chinese traditional art seminars regularly. “We are keen to do charitable works” said the former professor. “During the 120th anniversary celebration of Wuhan University, we wrote and painted for four consecutive days to produce as many pieces as we could.” Wenhu Jiang, a teacher from WHU Affiliated High Schooltold us that they would be willing to write and paint on the spot, according to buyers’ preference. Quite a few teachers and staff of the university are quite skilled at Chinese calligraphy and painting, and some of their works have been displayed in the book Calligraphy and Painting Collections of Wuhan University.
Some students also seek business opportunities during the festival. “I earn approximately several hundred yuan per day.” said a girl dressed in Hanfu, the traditional Chinese clothes of the ancient Han. “In fact, I enjoy meeting people rather than making a fortune,” she exclaimed as she sold ceramic toys on the Yinghua Avenue. Many tourists were attracted by her delicate costume and purchased souvenirs at her stall. Yufan Liu, a student from the School of Journalism and Communication dressed in the costume of Peking Opera, was busy taking photos. “I want to capture the most gorgeous scenes in the most colorful season of my university.” Liu wrote these words on his Weibo, a social networking service in China.
These various events bring a human touch to the Cherry Blossom Festival, which makes the celebration at WHU unique and irreplaceable. Many tourists and students of the university love the festival and claim that the blooming of the cherry blossoms will be long-treasured memories.(Photo by Yue Rao& Xichen Xiao)
