HKUST (GZ) Celebrates Mid-Autumn Festival and Teachers’ Day

On the afternoon of September 10, the celebration of the Mid-Autumn Festival and Teachers’ Day was held at the University Activity Center jointly by HKUST (GZ) and the Talent Development Bureau of Nansha District.

Guessing lantern riddles and making mooncakes

Strong festive atmosphere of the Mid-Autumn Festival

Upon entrance into the activity center, a large lantern frame hung with colorful paper lanterns comes into sight first. “Dian Dian Cheng Jin (guess a Chinese character)”. Let’s take a closer look. Many funny riddles are written on lanterns. Teachers and students gather around for the lantern riddle quiz. Elaborately-designed mooncake gift boxes are also prepared for the winners.

Eating mooncakes during the Mid-Autumn Festival is a traditional custom. This year’s celebration features “hand-made mooncakes”. Mooncake bakers are invited to show how to make ice-crust mooncakes.

Mix stuffing, make crust, and mold mooncakes……Instead of just eating a mooncake like before, everyone can try making one this year. Everyone is occupied in preparing hand-made mooncakes with the most adorable image in their mind.When finished, the mooncakes will be put into the exquisite packaging box as a gift for family and friends.

Besides making mooncakes and guessing lantern riddles, various handwork activities are also organized. Teachers and students put together their favorite flowers into a flower basket. With different festival elements, they can also make lanterns by themselves.

Teachers and students sing together

to elevate the atmosphere of the festivals.

The garden party also features a small concert. Students from Redbird MPhil Program, together with Teacher Huang Miaojun and Prof. Tang Kai as faculty representatives, sing popular songs together, including South and The Red Sun.

Vice President Wu Jingshen and Prof. Su Quanke bring the atmosphere of the garden party to a climax with their song Father’s Grassland and Mother’s River.

As the Mid-Autumn Festival meets the Teachers’ Day this year, teachers and students of HKUST (GZ) have celebrated two festivals at the same time for the first time since its opening.

On August 18, Prof. Qi Zhong from the Systems Hub left Hong Kong after isolation.

Among the last ones to arrive at HKUST (GZ), it is the first festival for him on campus.

He said, “the construction of the new campus is much faster than I expected. I used to spend the festival in Hong Kong. This is my first festival here this year. I am deeply impressed by the amazing atmosphere and students here and look forward to the brighter future we will create together.”

With his family living in Hong Kong, Prof. Qi cannot spend the Mid-Autumn Festival together with them. So he has a different plan this year. “I will have dinner with  students from the Redbird MPhil Program and those graduates who are working in Guangzhou. ”

Prof. Xu Bin from the Information Hub also celebrates the festival with the students. “I used to spend the Mid-Autumn Festival in Hong Kong with my family, eating dinner together, watching the moon, and viewing lanterns. Due to the epidemic, we went out less often in the past two years. This year, I will eat mooncakes with a dozen of my students. On the day of the Mid-Autumn Festival, I will have dinner together with some other teachers from Hong Kong. I will also have dinner and watch the moon at one teacher’s house.”

In addition to the friendly interaction between teachers and students, the Talent Development Bureau of Nansha District, as a partner of the event, also sends representatives to introduce the talent policy to the students. Recently, the Talent Development Bureau of Nansha District, together with the Exit-Entry Administration Bureau of Guangzhou Public Security Bureau and the Nansha District Branch of Guangzhou Public Security Bureau, has set up a talent service workstation on the campus of HKUST (GZ) to offer guidance on students’ future development.

Welcoming the Mid-Autumn Festival

Respecting teachers on this special day,

we usher in the first festival since the founding of the university. For the Mid-Autumn Festival, we wish for more days spent together. For the Teachers’ Festival, we work together to create a brighter future.

The sea mirrors the rising moon bright; Miles apart, our hearts share tonight.

Wherever we are, it is our shared hope that all teachers and students will

smile and recall all the good old days they spent at the beautiful HKUST (GZ).