Yann Zijing (Trinity) Zhao

On March 12, we, Y9 students, conducted our GE project. The project featured a gallery walk displaying posters of Chinese traditional culture. This one-hour project exhibition was the outcome of preparation that lasted more than two weeks. Working through our final project enhanced our ability to read, write, listen, and speak.

Each class was divided into five separate groups to form groups of six. The theme of our group is Cantonese embroidery. We selected this topic, hoping the poster could feature bright colors to attract visitors' attention. Since one of our group members is talented at creating crafts and paintings, we let her make a piece of embroidery to show and explain to visitors at the activity site. The rest of us each undertook different parts of the project for the Cantonese embroidery. We completed the poster production and speech recitation in the first two weeks. For the on-site interaction, we brought embroidery antiques back to school for exhibition on the event day.

The exhibition was held as scheduled and was a great success. All the Y9 students were fully committed to the exhibition, which created a vibrant atmosphere. Y9 students from different classes visited various stations and actively interacted with the representatives. Seniors and teachers were also attracted by the students' enthusiasm and the poster's content. Each visitor was invited to experience a unique traditional Chinese culture at different stations. For example, those who guess the riddle correctly at the Mid-autumn Festival station could have a piece of moon cake as an award. Visitors could also have a visual experience by stopping at stations like the Lion Dance station to watch students act out the dance movements or have a tactile experience by touching natural objects like the embroidery antiques at our Cantonese Embroidery station. Many foreign teachers were fascinated by the exhibition. "It's gorgeous!" were the words teacher Mary used to describe an antique from 1946 as a student introduced the artwork to her. Local teachers also enjoyed themselves during the gallery walk by getting candy from the Sugar Painting station and drinking syrup plum soup from the Traditional Chinese Medicine station.

From Chinese Martial Arts to Cantonese Embroidery, from Chinese Medicine to Sugar Painting, the charm of traditional Chinese culture was vividly displayed in this gallery walk. This gallery walk showed not only the vitality of Y9 students but also the crystallization of the 5,000-year history of China and the inheritance of the national spirit. On the very first day, when our GE teacher Dolores introduced this project to us, some students asked, "Why give us this project? " After the completion of this project, I figured out the meaning of it. I still remember the despair and frustration when I tried to interview artisans or visit workshops but found almost nothing. Those experiences made me realize how fast traditional cultures are disappearing. That feeling left a deep impression on me, and it was this feeling that made me work on this project even harder than any other one before. This project allowed each of us to understand and popularize Chinese culture in society deeply. Throughout this process, we not only enhanced our English ability but also learned wisdom from Chinese people. As a world citizen, I am determined to travel all over the world in the future. No matter where I am, I will always remember the roots of our nation and be confident enough to tell the world about who I am. In the meantime, I will also try to learn and respect cultures from other countries and embrace the differences. I think that is my biggest takeaway from this project.