Winter Solstice Cooking Class
2016/12/22 9:52:02
Right before Christmas, the School of International and Public Affairs held a cultural event organised by the university: a cooking class.
Chinese culture revolves around food, and a great way to make students understand and learn about a piece of this culture is teaching them how to make dumplings, one of the most iconic dishes in China.
The occasion was the Winter Solstice. According to the lunar calendar, in 2016 that date fell on 22nd December, and it is one of the most important festivals in China.
The story of the Winter Solstice dates back 3000 years to the Zhou dynasty, when it was considered as the start of the new year. Centuries later, it became only a festival in which people visit temples to pray and even offer gifts to their ancestors, a common practice in other festivals as well.Just like during the Spring Festival or official Chinese New Year, Chinese families get together and cook dumplings, so we gathered our SIPA family and did the same.
Our international students, along with their professors and the dean, worked hard learning how to mix the ingredients, season them and wrap them in the traditional way. Students from other Asian countries and also from other continents all tried their best to make this Chinese dish.
They became local chefs for a day!
Everyone had fun making their own dumplings, and their efforts made everything taste better than they expected!
ime to eat them! 吃饭了！