“Dream to Chase, World to Embrace” was the theme of this year’s festival, which opened alongside Confucius Institute Day on the 27th of September in Renmin University of China 's (RUC) Mingde Square.

The festival began with a dynamic performance of tai chi by six students, accompanied by flute playing and traditional elegant Chinese attire, which created a very vibrant atmosphere. The Director of International Cooperation and Exchanges at the Beijing Municipal Education Commission, Mr. Qiu Xiaoping, and the Vietnam Embassy Second Secretary, Thi Hoa Nguyen, were present while Vice President Yi Zhihong gave a speech.

In her speech, Vice President Yi Zhihong expressed her admiration for the International Culture Festival and Confucius Institute and her wishes that exchange students at RUC would be able to appreciate the diverse culture that RUC has to offer, as well as come together with the rest of the school to share in the wonderful customs and traditions. She mentioned with pride how Renmin University and the Confucius Institute have in recent years contributed to the exchange of Chinese culture and traditions around the world, and that she hopes RUC can continue to gain such great results from these international efforts.

Exchange students from 30 countries including South Korea, Japan, Vietnam, Malaysia, Mongolia, Myanmar, Thailand, Cambodia, Kazakhstan, Uzbekistan, Tajikistan, Turkey, Azerbaijan, Russia, Finland, France, Italy, Ireland, the Netherlands, Spain, Belgium, Norway, Ukraine, Australia, New Zealand, Argentina, Peru, Ecuador, Egypt and Panamawent on stage to display the traditional clothing of their home countries—brimming with enthusiasm as they showed off their unique heritages at the festival. Afterwards, Vice President Yi Zhihong announced the official opening of the 2014 International Culture Festival and Confucius Institute Day.

This year’s festival happens to coincide with the 10-year anniversary of the Confucius Institute, which has one become of RUC’s greatest efforts and accomplishments. To commemorate, the Confucius Institute put on a “Chinese Spelling Hero” Contest. Numerous enthusiastic international students went on stage to compete in guessing games, riddles, crossword puzzles, and other fun games pertaining to Chinese characters to show off their talent and excitement for learning Chinese.

Later, distinguished guests visited the meticulously constructed displays from 34 different countries of the exchange students.There were many eye-opening displays of cultural products, cuisines, and performances: an extraordinary Panama tambourine show, a Korean “HIGH” dance that pumped up the entire audience, a short and relaxed recreational Italian soccer match, a magnificent display Kyrgyzstani and Tajikistani traditional national dress, and a fashion show to further display the variations of elegance across different nations. Russian and South American students taught dances that drew in many local and exchange student participants to dance together with friends from all around the world, truly embodying the “Dream to Chase, World to Embrace” theme of the festival.

After the Confucius Institute Day concluded, President Chen Yulu made a special trip to return to the festival and participate in more activities. He went to the different stages, one by one, to meet with exchange students and observe the different cultural traditions from each country. The exchange students were equally excited to welcome President Chen and invited him to try many of their different foods.He also spoke with community members and discussed creating an international focus among all students at RUC in order to play on the strengths of international exchanges, build RUC’s international competitiveness, and strive to become an innovative global leader.

The International Culture Festival is done each year to bring together different cultures and promote friendship among the students from each country. This has become an important tradition and has had a positive role in creating the cosmopolitan atmosphere of the school. This year’s closing ceremony for the festival, alongside a large exchange student reception, will be held on October 11th at 7PM at the Rulun Lecture Hall.