Recently, in celebration of the 7th UN Chinese Language Day, 84 international students from nine countries at our university took part in a classic Chinese poetry recitation event. Centered on the theme of Jiangxi’s famous mountains, the activity aimed to share the province’s scenic wonders with the world through the beauty of poetic verses.

The event was truly unique. The students were divided into three groups, each reciting a poem dedicated to a different mountain: Mount Longhu, Mount Wugong, and Mount Sanqing. The first group’s deep, steady voices evoked the ethereal Taoist spirit of Mount Longhu; the second group delivered a powerful and majestic performance, capturing the vast sea of clouds over Mount Wugong; the third group’s clear and melodious recitation painted a vivid picture of Mount Sanqing’s striking and elegant peaks. To conclude, all the students came together to form the Chinese character for “mountain” (山) with their bodies, and recited in unison Li Bai’s famous poem The Waterfall in Mount Lu Viewed from Afar: “Its torrent dashes down three thousand feet from high / As if the Silver River fell from the blue sky.” The voices of 84 students merged into a cultural torrent, bringing the breathtaking power of the Lu Mountain waterfall to life.

Many of the participants shared their feelings after the event: “By reciting these poems, we not only experienced the unique charm of Jiangxi’s landscapes, but also gained a deeper understanding of the reverence and love for nature embedded in traditional Chinese culture.” This immersive approach to learning, which highlights local cultural characteristics, made the study of the Chinese language both vivid and deeply inspiring.

The recitation event was not only a practice of language and culture, but also a poetic dialogue across national boundaries. With their increasingly fluent Chinese, the international students infused the 7th UN Chinese Language Day with the rich cultural essence of Jiangxi, allowing the world to hear the enduring humanistic echoes of its mountains and waters.