Made in China
Chinese Open House showcases authentic food, art and activities
CHOW DOWN — International students prepared the meals, which included ma-po spicy tofu and lo mein
Photo Credit: Seth Dodson
With an assortment of authentic Chinese food and games, Liberty University’s International Student Services hosted its Chinese Open House to introduce the culture into the American student body.
The event, held Feb. 22, in DeMoss Hall, allowed students the opportunity to taste the food, see the sights and partake in modern Chinese culture.
Visitors to the event were allowed to try authentic Chinese food, much of which was made by Chinese Liberty students who have come to the United States to study.
International students prepared the food for CSER credit hours.
After preparation, students took the food, each in a cup decorated with a red Chinese flag, outside and placed them on a table for attendees to enjoy.
The plethora of Mandarin cuisine served at the open house included steamed dumplings, moo goo gai pan, ma-po spicy tofu, lo mein and wonton soup.
The ma-po spicy tofu was mild and served in a cup of white rice, a staple food in multiple Asian countries.
The wonton soup had a reddish tea-like color with an aroma of soy sauce mixed with noodles.
In addition to enjoying food, attendees were invited to take part in games.
One of these was Chinese yo-yo.
The Chinese yo-yo, unlike its western counterpart, uses a string with two free ends, which it is not tied to.
This means that one can perform tricks where the yo-yo and the string separate and then rejoin. The string is held from either end using two sticks.
A performer at the event demonstrated a trick where the yo-yo was launched about 15 feet into the air and caught back inside the string.
The event room was appropriately themed and decorated with both casual and festive items from Chinese culture.
These included festive Chinese lanterns, which remained unlit due to indoor safety requirements.
The walls were decorated with various fans, manuscripts, tapestries, maps and panoramic artworks — some recent, some ancient.
According to Estefania Whitesell, who helped to lead and organize the Chinese Open House, Chinese students represent roughly the third-largest population of international students at Liberty.
The largest number, according to Whitesell, comes from South Korea.
Whitesell said the Chinese Open House is only the first of several open house events hosted by the International Student Services to represent cuisine and culture from several different countries and regions around the world.
“For large countries like China, we’ll host a single open house, but some regions are represented by several smaller countries,” Whitesell said.
“Like, for the Middle East, we’ll do a Middle Eastern open house.”
For the remainder of the spring semester, students can look forward to the African Open House in March and the Canadian, Caribbean, and Asian open houses, all in April.
International open house events normally take place Wednesdays inside the International Student Lounge, just off the Grand Lobby.
All students are welcome to attend, whether international or not, and the open house events are free of charge to students to experience a small taste of the cultures represented in the university’s international student body.
Students can find a list of upcoming internationally-focused events at liberty.edu/admissions/international.
Dodson is a feature reporter.