Chinese at Wellesley and Beyond

• Chinese Corridor : Lantern Painting

The Lantern Festival is a holiday celebrated in China and other Asian countries that honors deceased ancestors on the 15th day of the first month of the lunar calendar. It aims to promote reconciliation, peace, and forgiveness.

The customs of lighting and hanging lanterns during the Lantern Festival are traditionally believed to not only drive away pests and wild animals but also to symbolize the dispelling of evil, bringing blessings, and praying for brightness. Therefore, lighting lanterns also carries the meaning of “warding off evil and ensuring safety.In order to celebrate this festival, the Chinese Corridor hosted an event for students to paint and decorate their own lanterns!

(pictures by Chinese Corridor, 2/21/2024; post by JuiYu Liao)

• Lunar New Year Celebration (Feb 12, 2024)

The Department of East Asian Languages & Culture (EALC) celebrated the Lunar New Year together! We welcome students to hang out, and talk with people from the Chinese, Korean, and Japanese corridors.

The festival is a day when families gather together, so we also prepared food for students to enjoy.Chinese New Year is one of the most important festival in Chinese community. We do certain activities, such as clean the house, wear new clothes, recevie and give red envelops and eat reunion dinner. In reunion dinner, we eat certain food to wish for luckiness, safety and happiness and of course, money for the following year! 

Here’s a small challenge for the students! They have to guess what food we eat during Chinese New Year. Once they get it right, they’ll receive a red envelope as a present!

One of the iconic activity is to hang up spring couplets or dou fang for good luck! Dou fang is this square sheet! What makes this activity important is it has meaning to hang them.

The most common word we write on them is 春，满，平安 and 财。 We hang them in an upright position, or, most of the people hang them up side down. Because the pronunciation of “upside down” is same as “has arrived”. As a result, if you have 财, which means money or wealth, it literally means the money has arrived! (pictures by Chinese Corridor, 2/12/2024; post by JuiYu Liao)

•  Karaoke Night (Dec 8, 2023)

  Chinese Corridor, Korean Corridor, and Japanese Corridor held an End-of-Semester Celebration Karaoke Night together on December 8th.

  Snacks were provided for students to enjoy during the celebration. We even prepared a disco ball to amp up the excitement!
  

We sang Chinese, Korean, and Japanese songs! It was so much fun that we even tried singing songs in each other’s languages.

(pictures by Chinese Corridor, 12/8/2023; post by JuiYu Liao)

• Movie Night (Nov 8, 2023)

In response to numerous requests from students in the corridor, Chinese Corridor hosted a movie night featuring “Our Times” (我的少女時代 Wǒ De Shàonǚ Shídài), a 2015 Taiwanese teen romantic comedy-drama film directed by Frankie Chen.

The theme song “A Little Happiness” was undeniably one of the biggest hits of 2015. It’s so catchy that by the end of the movie, everyone couldn’t resist singing along!

Our Times《我的少女时代》电影主題曲 -《小幸运》MV by 田馥甄 (youtube.com)

(pictures by Chinese Corridor, 11/8/2023; post by JuiYu Liao)

• Anime Night (Nov 20 & 27, 2023)

In response to numerous requests from students in the corridor, the Chinese Corridor hosted two anime nights featuring the famous Chinese anime Heaven Official’s Blessing (天官赐福 tiān guān sì fú). 

The trailer can be watched here: Heaven Official’s Blessing Trailer

(pictures by Chinese Corridor, 11/27/2023; post by JuiYu Liao)

• Study Night (Oct 18, 2023)

Fall is known as the best time for reading, earning it the nickname “Fall of Reading.” This tradition traces back to the poetic musings of Han Yu, a distinguished poet from the Tang Dynasty in China. In his ancient five-character poem, “符讀書城南,” he beautifully captures the essence of autumn’s allure for bibliophiles: “時秋積雨霽，新涼入郊墟。燈火稍可親，簡編可卷舒. This literally means the autumn night is cool, and one doesn’t feel the heat of the lamp; it’s a good time for reading.

One reason fall is great for reading is because the hot summer weather goes away, making it easier to focus on books.

To celebrate this season, we held a Study Night on October 18 and extended an open invitation to students who wish to participate in group studying. It was a lovely gathering where everyone came together to chat and enjoy delicious snacks, all while surrounded by the enchanting atmosphere of autumn.

(pictures by Chinese Corridor, 10/18/2023; post by JuiYu Liao)

• First Gathering (Sep 20, 2023)

• Mid-Autumn Festival Celebration (Sep 27, 2023)

The celebration of the Mid-Autumn Festival (中秋节, zhōng qiū jié) takes place on September 27. The most significant aspect of this festival is the opportunity to gather with the people you love.

One of the most iconic traditions associated with this celebration is having mooncakes (月饼, yuè bǐng). In Chinese culture, the round shape of mooncakes symbolizes completeness and reunion. Therefore, eating mooncakes signifies the unity and wholeness of families (团圆, tuán yuán).

During the celebration, two types of mooncakes are served. One is the sweet Rose Red Bean Paste Moon Cake (玫瑰红豆沙月饼, méiguīhóng dòushāyuè bǐng), and the other is a combination of sweet and savory, known as the Date Paste Egg Yolk Mooncake (枣泥蛋黄酥, zǎoní dànhuángsū).

Before enjoying the mooncakes, we prepare a small activity sheet for students to engage with. The sheet includes festival related vocabulary, and the students are tasked with matching each term to the appropriate picture and its English meaning. Once the mission is completed, we serve mooncakes, tea, and snacks for everyone to enjoy!

As the school year drew to a close, we gathered for one last evening of culinary delight in our corridor. This time, we chose to create a dish that had long been awaited — Mapo Tofu (麻婆豆腐, Mápó Dòufu), a Chinese delicacy hailing from the Sichuan province.

To begin, we took fresh spring onions and blended them with oil, allowing the oil to absorb the rich and flavorful essence of the onions. Next, we added the sauce — a great combination of tangy, fermented flavors from douban and douchi. We mixed everything until the ingredients were fully combined before adding in the delicate tofu cubes.

As we fried the tofu in the sauce, the aroma that filled the kitchen was simply magical. The tofu slowly absorbed the complex flavors of the spices, resulting in a taste that was both delectable and unforgettable. To further enhance the dish, we added some Sichuanese peppercorns, which added an extra kick to the already sensational flavor.

The combination of spicy, savory, and slightly sweet flavors made Mapo Tofu a unique and utterly delightful dish. Its fiery red appearance and bold, spicy flavors captured our imaginations and ignited our taste buds. Sitting down and enjoying our creation, we felt a sense of accomplishment and fulfillment, knowing that we had come together to create something memorable.

(pictures by Chinese Corridor, 4/19/2023; post by Entzu Chang)

Our first cooking event this spring took place by the end of the Lunar New Year, spotlighting tangyuan.

Tangyuan (汤圆, tāngyuán), traditionally served during the Lantern Festival (元宵节, Yuánxiāojié), the 15th day of the first month of a lunar year, is a traditional Chinese dessert made of glutinous rice. With ball-shaped as its signature look, it may have different sizes and flavors. Sesame and red bean are some of the most popular fillings, and tonight the red bean one was here.

Being a homophone for union (团圆, tuányuán), the name of tangyuan holds an essence of togetherness and wholeness, resonating with the first full moon of the year occurring on the 15th day of the month. Winter passes with spring arriving; may spring blossom joyfully.

(pictures by Chinese Corridor, 2/8/2023; post by Entzu Chang, 2/8/2023)

Another cooking event that would be lovely to share is Dumpling Night.

On a wintry, rainy Wednesday evening of November, we gathered in Freeman Hall for dumplings. Inspired by a vegetarian recipe, we made some simple ones filled with carrots, mushrooms, and cabbages.

The most exciting part, folding, came after lots of cutting and chopping. It was captivating seeing and sharing our diverse ways of folding dumplings. Typical shapes were done, and so were distinctive ones. Creativity was infused into our dish, diverting into surprising results.

We cooked, and we dined. The wind was soaring outside; the rain slapped the windows. By the table we sat, having our handmade dumplings, talking leisurely in the presence. With music playing in the background, our chatter and laughter reverberated in the kitchen. How wonderful and thankful it was for us to be here.

(pictures by Chinese Corridor, 11/2/2022; post by Entzu Chang, 12/7/2022)

Earlier this semester, the Chinese Corridor held a Boba-Tea-Making event. The Chinese Corridor residents and the Chinese language class students gathered together with the Language Assistant in the Language House, Freeman Hall, enjoying the cooking night.

Boba Tea (珍珠奶茶, zhēnzhū nǎichá), also known as Pearl Milk Tea, Tapioca Tea, or Bubble Tea, is a type of drink originated in Taiwan, which initially consists of tea and boba, small spheres made from cassava starch that are often simmered in brown sugar to gain sweetness.

Nowadays, more varieties of toppings come to be in accompany the drink. Besides typical tapioca pearls, we may also see colorful, fruity, popping boba, grass jelly, pudding, red bean, taro, and much more.

We made our boba tea in two chosen flavors — strawberry milk tea and chai milk tea. In the evening, the caffeine-free alternatives may bring us relaxation amid the hustle and bustle of a busy week. Looking at the boba begetting their shapes in the boiling water, we caught the excitement from awaiting the delicious drink.

Hosting this boba cooking event, Entzu, the Language Assistant from Taiwan gladly expressed happiness in seeing their beloved drink from home living all around and in partaking in the shared moments of foods, languages, and cultures with others in this convivial space.

(pictures by Chinese Corridor, 10/19/2022; post by Entzu Chang, 12/7/2022)