Although the winter had come with chilly wind, people in Beiyang Village were feeling warm inside. On December 6, CIE students, College of Economics and Management, and College of Food Science and Engineering went to Beiyang Village and presented a wonderful cultural audio-visual feast for the local people, themed on “Cultural Activities Bringing Warmth to the Countryside”.

Attracting hundreds of villagers to come and watch, the event consisted of various forms of popular shows, including dancing, singing, and sketch comedies. In the dance “Guanshan Jiu”, the performer posed as a chivalrous general who drank down his sorrow on a fortress mountain; and the sketch comedy “San Ju Ban” elicited a hearty round of laughs among the audience; the recitation performance expressed love to the motherland through the lines and words of the poem “I Love You, China”; and the Beijing opera “Lihua Song” captured the quintessence of traditional culture with the delicacy of costumes and makeup; also, the cheerful nursery rhymes “Little Red Elephant” and “My Grandma’s Penghu Bay” uplifting the atmosphere by inviting the local children to join and dance. The student staff also prepared special gifts like peanut oil and washing powder for the villagers on scene.

This event not only sent joy and warmth to Beiyang Village by building colourful cultural life and helping the local spiritual civilization construction, but also served as a “second classroom” that provided opportunities for students to plunge into the thick of rural life and develop volunteer spirit and service consciousness in practice while strengthening their “three agricultural” awareness at the same time.

“Look at those smiling faces! It’s such an amazing way of bringing art into the countryside.” Zhang Haiyan, deputy secretary of Beiyang Village commented with a laugh. “With the modernization of agriculture and rural areas, aside from the material life, we have paid greater attention to the construction of spiritual and cultural aspects than ever before. I really appreciate the shows that you brought to our villagers. I believe with the help of our young students, our life will become more and more colourful.”

Zhang Xianglei is a student from Class 19 of Innovation Experimental College. After participating in the activity, he said, “It never occurred to me that even little deeds of kindness could lead to so much joy and hope. Through this event, I get a deeper understanding of how much we are able to do in the rural areas. As CIE students, we shoulder the anticipation from the university. For us, the word “Understand Agriculture, Devote to Rural Community and Be Sincere to Farmers” is not simply a void slogan but an achievable goal that we agricultural talents must keep striving for. I hope I will continue to make contributions on the road of poverty alleviation and rural revitalization.”

Students were dancing with young children