City universities help stranded students celebrate Chinese New Year's Eve
While most families in Shanghai get together for the Chinese New Year's Eve, many had to spend the day away from home.
But the city's universities have prepared big dinners, presents and various activities to make sure that students feel at home.
At East China Normal University, more than 3,000 students stayed on its two campuses for the Chinese New Year for different reasons. Some of them stayed for working in labs; some were stuck in Shanghai because their home town is locked down due to the COVID-19 pandemic.
The university prepared 28 different dishes for the New Year's Eve dinner, and a party was organized by the students to entertain themselves.
A student from Thailand, whose Chinese name is Liu Chenglong, said that he was very familiar with Chinese New Year traditions as his mother is Chinese.
"I felt really happy that I could spend such an important day with my fellow students," he said. "Because of the pandemic, I couldn't reunite with my family for these past two years, but the campus feels like home anyway."
Faculty at East China Normal University wrote calligraphic new year wishes to students staying on campus for the Spring Festival.
At East China University of Science and Technology, dormitories were decorated with lanterns, paper-cut window decorations and new year couplets. A tiger doll was given to every student as a new year gift from the university. As most of the students staying on campus are from the northwestern Shaanxi Province, pita bread was included in the food package given to the students.
Dorm attendants at East China University of Science and Technology weaved scarves for students as new year presents.
Students from the Shanghai University of International Business and Economics spent an artistic and environmentally-friendly New Year's Eve as they learned to paint on ring-pull cans. Li Xionggang, a ring-pull can painting master, visited the campus and became their lecturer of the day.
"My son graduated from this university and he is now doing the painting with me," Li said. "I hope that the young students can learn the significance of art and environmental protection."
Students at the Shanghai University of International Business and Economics learn to paint on pull-ring cans on the New Year's Eve.
While students enjoyed a warm, entertaining and well-fed day, chefs for airline companies started their work from early morning to make sure that passengers could enjoy a better meal during the holiday.
The Hongqiao center of Eastern Airlines Catering Co Ltd is providing more than 20,000 package meals daily during the holiday. Many are traditional festive foods, such as rice-pudding, egg dumplings and rice cakes.
"Our 20 chefs will work all day to complete dozens of processes, from cleaning the raw ingredients to sealing the meal boxes, to providing the meals, including main courses, side dishes and fruits, on time," said Zhang Ting, an official with the company. "It's actually the busiest time of the year."
