Thursday, 29 June 2023 16:03

The “Midsummer Dragon Boat Festival" was successfully held at the COSCO - Piraeus Port Authority

summer2022

On the evening of June 21, the "Midsummer Dragon Boat Festival" was successfully held at COSCO Shipping Piraeus Port Authority. The event was co-organized by Athens Business Confucius Institute at the AUEB, COSCO Shipping Piraeus Port Authority, China Public Diplomacy Association, Chinese Embassy in Greece. With the theme of Dragon Boat Festival, the event introduced and demonstrated the customs of traditional Chinese festivals and provided a platform for the people of China and Greece to exchange and interact with each other. Deputy Rector of Athens University of Economics and Business Professor George Lekakos was invited to attend the event and delivered speech and Zhao Zhongxiu, President of the University of International Business and Economics, delivered a video congratulatory speech. Nearly 300 people participated in the event.

The Deputy Rector of Athens University of Economics and Business Professor George Lekakos mentioned in his speech that the Athens University of Economics and Business will continue to cooperate with the University of International Business and Economics to support the development of the Confucius Institute and the cooperation with Chinese companies to promote win-win relationships and contribute to infrastructure, trade and social development for common development and future prosperity.

The event consisted of five sessions: Tracing the origins, talking, drinking, singing and performing martial arts, which allowed the culture of Greece and China to ripple through the port of Piraeus.

In the first part of the event, the teachers of the Athens Business Confucius Institute explained the origin, customs and meaning of the Dragon Boat Festival. They introduced in detail the unique charm of the Dragon Boat Festival as a traditional Chinese festival and gave the audience from Greece and China a deeper understanding of the cultural connotations of this ancient festival.

The next part of the program was the "Happy Talk", where the students of Athens Business Confucius Institute gave a wonderful poetry recitation performance. They recited the poem "Duanwu" in Chinese and "Ithaka" in Greek. They showed the charm of both Chinese and Greek languages with their harmonious tone and rich and full voice, and won the applause of the audience.

In the "Wine" session, the hosts invited eight people from China and Greece to taste the Chinese Xiong Huang wine and the Greek Ouzo. Everyone gathered together to taste the different flavors of the two traditional wines, which brought the people of Greece and China closer together.

The audience was brought into the romantic atmosphere of the south of the Yangtze River by a beautiful guzheng performance of "The Boat in the Smoke and Rain" in the "When the Song" session. Next, Marina Helmi, a student of HSK 6 class of the Athens Business Confucius Institute, sang a solo Chinese song, "Li Sao", with standard pronunciation, clear spelling and full of emotion, showing the good acquisition of Chinese language and deep understanding of Chinese culture by the students of Confucius Institute. The audience was immersed in the song and was moved by it. In addition, the Greek musicians played the song "Children of Piraeus" with bouzouki, a traditional Greek musical instrument.

The last part of the event was the "martial arts performance", in which the Hubei Wudang group came all the way to present a stunning martial arts performance. The audience was amazed by their demonstration of the essence of Chinese martial arts. The students of the Greek martial arts school showed their love for Chinese martial arts with their athletic and light movements. The audience was amazed and captured the moments with their cell phones.

The success of this event not only brought the friendship between the Greek and Chinese people closer, but also promoted the cultural exchange and integration between the two countries. The Confucius Institute for Business in Athens will continue to work with all parties and contribute to the development of the relationship between Greece and China.

 

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