Giving Thanks: Year-end Student Faculty Tea Party

National Taiwan National Taiwan University hosted a Lunar New Year teacher-student tea party on Jan. 15. Hosted by NTU President Pan-Chyr Yang (楊泮池), over 700 overseas Chinese students, international students, and students from China gathered at the NTU Gymnasium to celebrate the end of the semester ahead of the Chinese New Year.

Celebrating alongside the students were Education Minister Se-Hwa Wu (吳思華), Overseas Community Affairs Council Minister Steven Chen (陳士魁), as well as honored guests and faculty from the NTU community.

The guests wrote Chinese Spring Couplets at the opening of the event to emulate the festive spirit of the Lunar New Year. The University then held an ancestral thanksgiving ritual, and President Yang handed out red envelopes to further bring luck to the participating students.

The tea party also featured a variety of student performances that added a celebratory atmosphere to the event. This included a traditional lion dance and a magic show presented by students from Malaysia, a Gucheng performance by students from China, as well as songs presented by students from Indonesia.

Speaking at the event, both Minister Wu and President Yang pointed out that the ritual of giving thanks to our ancestors traces back to thousands of years, noting that the Chinese tradition of loving and respecting one’s elders is of profound significance as it conveys the virtue of gratitude and reverence for our forefathers.

As a result, NTU’s year-end tea party has also been made an annual tradition where the overseas and international students have a first-hand experience of the Chinese custom. The event also serves as an opportunity for the participants to catch up on the past year and talk about the new year to come.

In the hopes to attract more international and overseas Chinese student enrollments, NTU mas made plans to host admission seminars in Southeast Asia with its National Taiwan University Triangle Alliance members, National Taiwan Normal University and National Taiwan University of Science and Technology. The three universities plan to stop at countries including Malaysia, Thailand, and Vietnam.