International Students Have Moon Festival Fun at NCKU

TAINAN, Taiwan--(BUSINESS WIRE)-- International students played a game called ”Gambling for Cakes（博狀元餅）” - a traditional game for Moon Festival - and enjoyed moon cakes and pomelos in celebration of one of the most important folkloric Taiwanese festivals at National Cheng Kung University (NCKU) on Sept. 27.

Chinese Language Center (CLC) at NCKU has prepared 200 moon cakes and 80 pomelos for the international students, according to Professor Rong-Fu Wu, concurrently CLC director. Madou, Tainan produces a special variety of pomelo, a citrus fruit.

The Mid-Autumn Day is celebrated in almost every household in Taiwan, according to Wu, who hoped the international students in NCKU could grasp the meaning of the festival in Chinese culture and enjoy themselves on this special occasion. The Mid-Autumn Day falls on Sept. 30 this year.

Nans Bujan from France, a postdoctoral researcher at Tainan Hydraulics Laboratory at NCKU who has just arrived at the school a few days ago, said that he had great fun playing the game and won a moon cake. He said he could get the festival atmosphere around him and was happy about his arrival and confident in his stay in NCKU.

“Good gambling,” said Corinne Coster, a French student who obviously had great fun in the activity. Coster expressed her admiration toward Chinese culture by saying that it is interesting to gamble with dices. She was also intrigued to see how people here are still so into the moon and appreciate the beauty of nature.

Marieke from Belgium said, “It’s so much fun today to celebrate the Moon Festival with my classmates and friends around here.” Marieke is familiar with the Moon Festival, having learned Chinese in Belgium, but this was the first time she has experienced the authentic fun of celebrating the festival.

Jonathan Knowles is a British who enjoys his life in Tainan a lot. He shared his traveling experience around Taiwan, saying, “The people in Taiwan are so nice, the weather is so pleasant, and the food is so great that I’m thinking about staying here for a longer time.”

“It is fun to gamble for moon cakes and luckily I got one,” said Knowles, noting that he was invited by his friend over to his place to attend a BBQ party later.

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