Foreign students in Hefei fall in love with Chinese intangible cultural heritage

A wave of enthusiasm for Chinese intangible cultural heritage is sweeping through the foreign student community in Hefei, capital of East China's Anhui province.

Hefei's universities have nearly 3,000 foreign students currently. Over 50 percent of them participate in various intangible cultural heritage courses offered by 14 universities, according to the local education authorities.

Wallace Liew Anak Jeman from Malaysia is a student at Anhui University of Chinese Medicine.

His major is traditional Chinese medicine. In his spare time, he is passionate about Chinese martial arts.

"Martial arts originated in China. To truly learn it, one must come to China and learn from Chinese teachers," he said.

"Besides, in traditional Chinese culture, medicine and martial arts are not separate fields. I study traditional Chinese medicine, so learning martial arts will complement my studies," said the Malaysian student.

Russian student Alina Sharipova studies at Anhui Agricultural University.

"Many young people in Russia now enjoy drinking tea, but what I learned in Russia is not enough. That's why I came to China to study tea science, tea art, and tea culture," said Sharipova.

In Hefei University of Technology, a range of elective culture courses on paper-cutting, calligraphy, martial arts and Chinese painting are offered specifically for its 202 students from 47 foreign countries.

"What I do is not about creating new content, but about passing on knowledge and techniques," said Zhong Yan, a teacher from Hefei University of Technology.

Xi Zhiyang, an inheritor and teacher of Huizhou-style paper-cutting said, "Foreign students are very enthusiastic learners. I am very satisfied with the works they create...This shows that traditional Chinese culture can be shared with the world."

"It doesn't matter who we pass our intangible cultural heritages on to; what matters is that it continues to be passed down. This is crucial," he added.