BOSTON WISE SHARES CHINESE CULTURE WITH PCC

by Young Voices staff

Have you ever experienced Chinese culture? On July 10th, PCC students witnessed a powerful presentation from Boston Wise, a program founded to connect Chinese and American students, filled with a whirlwind of colors, sounds, and emotions.

The presentation was hosted by two students, one from the United States and one from China.

Ana is a rising senior at Oliver Ames High School who has traveled across seas to China. Her Chinese co-host, Payson, is foreign exchange student here at PCC, courtesy of the Boston Wise program. Together they introduced a series of speeches and acts meant to showcase Chinese culture, and to break down stereotypes and misconceptions.

Ana spoke about her experience traveling to China. She stayed with a host family while there, and this taught her the importance of shared language between cultures. She felt the ability of different cultures to be able to communicate with one another goes a long way towards a making a connection. There were also two students, one from Stonehill College, who studied abroad in China, and they explained details about their tour across the country. After the speeches, Ana and Payson introduced a series of performances to demonstrate Chinese culture.

The first act was traditional Chinese dancing. The hosts introduced the dance by explaining it was a Chinese version of the Latin bull-dance. Three Chinese women dressed in red flowing skirts performed the dance to Latin music. This was followed by a young girl named Grace who played the yangqin, a Chinese hammered dulcimer. Her talent with the instrument was mind-blowing, as evidenced by the massive round of applause and standing ovation after her performance.

The third act was a group of six singers who delighted the audience with a modern Chinese song about a shy girl in a village. It was different from typical American pop music, but had a light and graceful melody that had a mellowing effect on the crowd. Grace then returned to the stage for an encore on her yangqin.

The evening was wrapped up with a series of popular Chinese games that required an interactive audience. Students were asked to recite the digits of Pi 𝝅 in Chinese. Then groups were brought up on stage to play a game where smaller shapes have to be manipulated to create a larger, different shape.

Ana and Payson concluded the evening by thanking the audience and Boston Wise for bringing these two cultures together.    

-with additional reporting by Abby Kneipfer