Expats embrace the skill of making traditional arts

YINCHUAN－Following the teacher's instruction, Anne Banitowski, with scissors in hand, was absorbed in cutting a red piece of paper along the dotted lines. "I'm cutting out 'double happiness'. I plan to add some hollowed-out flowers and give it to a Chinese friend as a wedding present," says Banitowski, a Canadian teacher at the No 2 High School of Yinchuan city, Northwest China's Ningxia Hui autonomous region.

As COVID-19 continues to rage on across the globe, many people in China, including foreign experts like Banitowski, have reduced their travel during Spring Festival. It is her first time celebrating the holiday in China, although she has lived in the country for years.

In order to enrich the holiday, the region's science and technology department organized a celebration activity, inviting 24 foreign experts from 13 countries to experience traditional Chinese art, including paper-cutting and ink painting.

"It's my first time trying paper-cutting, and it is really fun," says Banitowski.

More than 2,000 foreign experts have come to work in the region over the past five years, according to Chen Fang, deputy director of the department.

Since the COVID-19 outbreak, Ningxia authorities have provided pandemic prevention supplies and daily necessities like vegetables and fruits to the foreign experts.

Ningxia has also held free online Chinese language classes for foreign experts and streamlined the procedures for work permits.

At the event, another art lover, Baktygul Raimbekova from Kyrgyzstan, learned how to create a traditional Chinese ink painting.

Having worked as a teacher in North Minzu University for seven years, she teaches Russian to local students in Ningxia and gives lectures on Chinese to international students. Outside classes, she likes to paint, inspired by traditional Chinese stories, operas and woodcarving. She also established an art gallery in May, where she can convey her vision toward Chinese art and culture to her foreign friends.

El Batoul Nejjaoui from Morocco is now based in Ningxia as a translator of books and films. When the region suffered from a resurgence of COVID-19 cases in October, she volunteered to help with pandemic control in her community, while also shooting several videos for audiences in countries involved in the Belt and Road Initiative on how the local government managed to curb the outbreak.

"I hope there will be more chances for us to learn about the culture in Ningxia and China so that we can introduce China to the world from our own perspectives," she says.

Xinhua