On 12th June 2013, the 5th day of the 5th lunar month, is the Dragon Boat Festival. Teachers and students from Confucius Institute at Egerton University organized activities with the theme of “Taste Zongzi, learn the culture of Duanwu Festival” to celebrate. On this day, students were fully exposed to the traditional Chinese culture by photo exhibition, Zongzi preparing (making of Chinese traditional sticky rice which to be eaten during Duanwu Festival) and giving scented sachets and gift cards to each other.

Students were all attracted to the spot with happy festival atmosphere. “Duanwu Festival, originated over 2000 years ago, has been one of the greatest traditional festivals in China.” said Lu Yang, the teacher of Confucius Institute at Egerton University, who introduced the history and customs of this festival to the curious students. “On this day, Chinese people make sticky rice dumplings, race dragon boats and drink realgar wine to commemorate our great patriotic poet named Qu Yuan.” Students, after listening to the vivid explanations of each picture, understood more about this traditional festival, and they learned to say a few phrases in Chinese such as “ 端午节快乐”(Happy Duanwu Festival)， “粽子”（zongzi）， “赛龙舟”（dragon boat racing）and“屈原”(Qu Yuan) etc.

After learning about the history, teachers and students from Confucius Institute were making Zongzi (sticky rice dumplings) together. Li Yuan, Director of the Confucius Institute at Egerton University, patiently demonstrated the skills of making Zongzi to everyone. Happy with the Zongzi made with their own hands, students smiled and said “We love Zongzi, and we love Duanwu Jie (Duanwu Festival)!” Students received festival gift cards and scented sachets from their Chinese teachers Zheng Dandan and Li Qi when the party came to the end.

Students at Egerton University, who have tasted the sweetness of Duanwu Festival on this eventful day, experienced the customs and further understood traditional Chinese culture. Neriya , a current student at Confucius Institute, said with excitement that “My elder brother is studying in China now. I’ll go to China to learn its great culture too in the future!”