A delegation from Qingdao Preschool Education College returned from their study visit to Belarus, where they have transformed Chinese intangible cultural heritage into a key for cultural dialogue, adding a vibrant touch to Sino-Belarusian vocational education cooperation.

Yan Hongyu, the sixth-generation inheritor of Caozhou dough figurine, impressed students at her class at Yanka Kupala State University of Grodno in Belarus. She seemed to possess magical hands as ordinary dough transformed shapes between her fingers.

Over 40 local students exclaimed in amazement, "Wow, this panda is so cute, I can't believe it's made of dough!" "This is truly ancient Chinese magic!"

Facing the eager local learners, Yan, in addition to her live demonstrations, collaborated with Li Xiaojuan to create a 26-episode Russian version of "Chinese Intangible Cultural Heritage - Dough Sculpture" video course, establishing a three-dimensional communication system of "online resource library and offline workshops", planting the seeds of Chinese intangible cultural heritage in the hearts of Belarusian youth through dough sculpture.

During the six-month study visit, the two teachers skillfully constructed an interesting teaching system at Yanka Kupala State University of Grodno, covering various modules such as Chinese traditional festivals, art appreciation, culinary culture, calligraphy studies, tea ceremony tasting, traditional music, and more, while establishing a normalized teaching and research mechanism with the school of art and design and the language department of the university.

"We are not only cultural disseminators but also harvesters of teaching philosophies," Li stated.

This study visit marked an important chapter in the cooperation between Qingdao Preschool Education College and Yanka Kupala State University of Grodno in Belarus.

Since September 2024, the cross-border education channel established by the two schools has begun to take shape: faculty exchanges, joint undergraduate education, and Sino-foreign cooperative education projects have been successively launched.

Among them, the joint undergraduate education project has achieved mutual recognition of credits between China and Belarus, allowing students to obtain a bachelor's degree after three years of studying in China and then two years in Belarus. The Sino-foreign cooperative education project introduces high-quality Belarusian courses and invites outstanding Belarusian teachers, enabling students to access international educational resources without leaving the country.

A delegation from Qingdao Preschool Education College transforms Chinese intangible cultural heritage into a key for cultural dialogue. [Photo provided to chinadaily.com.cn]