District invites foreign talent to Mid-Autumn Festival

Left: Participants come together to make mooncakes. Above: Everyone is invited to dress in traditional hanfu for an immersive cultural experience.

Children have a good time during the Mid-Autumn Festival gathering. — Courtesy of the Jiading District Talent Work Bureau

Hu Min

For the Chinese, the Mid-Autumn Festival symbolizes reunion and happiness, and Jiading District recently hosted a Mid-Autumn Festival gathering for foreign talent to enhance their sense of belonging and contentment while working in the district.

The activity was hosted by the Jiading District Talent Work Bu-reau on Zhouqiao Historic Street, where Jiading’s history and culture originated.

About 20 families of foreign pro-fessionals from countries such as the United States, Germany, the United Kingdom, Belgium and Singa-pore got to try making mooncakes, tie-dyeing and diancha (creating tea art in cups) during the event.

Some of the foreign experts shared their experiences and feelings of working and living in Jiading, and made suggestions during the event.

The yaoban cloth (blue-and-white cloth) has a history of thousands of years. It originated in the Jiangnan area during the Tang (AD 618-907) and Song (960-1279) dynasties and thrived throughout the country dur-ing the Ming (1368-1644) and Qing (1644-1911) dynasties.

In Anting, its history can be dated back to over 800 years and Anting yaoban cloth was listed as an intan-gible cultural heritage of Shanghai in 2009.

Under the guide of an inheritor of the intangible cultural heritage, participants experienced the tradi-tional craft and were able to create unique silk scarfs.

Beate Gertrud, from Germany, has worked in Jiading since 2011. She is the project director of an auto parts company in Anting Town.

“Jiading is like my second home,” she said. “I really like it and every-thing is convenient here.”

Dressed in hanfu (traditional Han-style attire), she made a mooncake with her daughter.

“It was my first time making mooncakes, which is not as easy as I thought,” she said. “I am very happy about the experience.

“The tie-dyeing is not easy either, because you have to find the right pattern,” she added.

Vojtech from England works at a bilingual school in the district. He has lived in Jiading for two years.

“The environment in Jiading is very pleasant, with abundant greenery and parks. Working in the district is also convenient,” he said. “I registered on an app to work here; it provided comprehensive details and was user-friendly.”

Vojtech tried tie-dyeing with great interest.

“It’s very interesting although it is a little complicated. Maybe more practice is needed,” he said.

The activity, organized by the talent work bureau, was designed to allow foreign professionals to immerse themselves in traditional Chinese culture and strengthen their sense of belonging while working in Jiading.

“The ancient Chinese saying goes ‘It is always a pleasure to have a friend from afar,’ and we are truly delighted and honored by the pres-ence of foreign friends here to celebrate the festival,” said Fang Jian, director of the bureau.

“You leave your homeland to develop your careers here, contrib-uting to the city’s development, injecting vitality into its economic growth, and dedicating your ef-forts to scientific and technological innovation. It is because of your contributions that this city shines brighter.”

Fang said the bureau would im-plement higher-quality measures to serve foreign talent as a way to reciprocate their dedication to the city.

“We hope the event will enhance the foreign experts’ understanding of Jiading and deepen mutual com-prehension, while also helping us more accurately assess the needs of foreign talent to provide better services,” said Qiu Jun, deputy di-rector of the bureau.