From taking in the exquisite sights of Mount Wuyi to visiting the gorgeous Fuzhou Springs, 15 DUT students were given the opportunity of a lifetime- spending 20 days at the Chinese bridge Winter Camp in Fuzhou and Wuyishan, Fujian Province, in China, earlier this year (2015).

The winter camp afforded these DUT students to better understand China, improve their Chinese language proficiency, Chinese culture and build close friendships with their Chinese fellow students.

DUT Confucius Institute (DUT CI), the co-sponsor of the Winter Camp, in partnership with the Fujian Agriculture and Forestry University (FAFU), China, have created a series of programmes for students which include Mandarin enhancing courses, lectures and workshops themed on China-African relations and China South African relations, the Fujian culture and economy, Apitherapy (the medicinal use of products made by honeybees) and Chinese conventional medicine.

This partnership was formed as a result of DUT signing a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) with FAFU towards the establishment of a Mandarin language programme at DUT. The DUT CI programme is the first programme in KwaZulu-Natal aimed at promoting and facilitating academic exchanges between the two universities.
Besides a number of Chinese culture visits and culture learning programmes such as Chinese calligraphy writing, Chinese ikebana and learning about the Chinese tea culture, the DUT students also went on a tour to the UNESCO natural and cultural heritage site Mount Wuyi and enjoyed a fantastic tea culture show which the Durban students thoroughly enjoyed. The DUT students also got an opportunity to showcase their culture to the Chinese students at FAFU with traditional Zulu singing and dancing.

Talking about his experience, Mhlonishwa Chiliza, a DUT student from Faculty of Arts and Design, said he enjoyed his trip and made many new friends. “The twenty day interesting cultural trip to China provided a precious platform for us students from South Africa to experience Chinese culture, enhance our Mandarin speaking abilities, enrich our personal life experience, make new friends and to display our South African language and culture to Chinese people as well,” he said.

According to the common agreement between Chinese government and South African government, 2014 was the ‘Chinese-South Africa Year’ and 2015 is the ‘South African-China Year’.

-Waheeda Peters

Pictured: DUT students with FAFU students at the UNESCO natural and cultural heritage site, Mount Wuyi, in China.