TROY, Ala. (TROJANVISION) — The Trojan Center Ballrooms were filled with Chinese and American students for a night of performance, dinner, and cultural interaction Monday night at Troy University’s Mid-Autumn Festival.
The Mid-Autumn Festival is a Chinese tradition that occurs at the lunar calendar’s beginning of what we would call Autumn. It’s a day often compared to Thanksgiving in which people get off work and dedicate a day to spending time with their family, enjoying performance, lots of food, and appreciating the world around them.
Troy University students that are a part of the “1+2+1 program” brought traditional Chinese festivities to their American peers to show that the two cultures aren’t truly that different.
“Sometimes the movies’ plots are completely different to the reality of China, so I believe tonight’s show is the perfect and the most direct way to show Troy University what China is actually like and what is traditional,” said Graduate Assistant and event organizer Leo Wei. “Troy university is the first ever home of our 1+2+1 American Chinese program, so I believe this is such a great honor to share this event with Troy.”
The 1+2+1 program is a partnership between American Universities and China that allows Chinese students to spend their first year of college in China, the next two years in America, and the final year in China, ending their program with a degree from both universities.
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Zhe Chen, the event’s host and a student from China in the 1+2+1 program in his first year here in Troy, said that it isn’t the easiest switch to make but he knows it will help him grow.
“I’m a shy person, I’m very shy. I never do the host thing before” Chen said. “My English is not that perfect so it’s a double challenge for me, but you know there’s a lot of challenges in life, this is just a small case. I want to show myself and experience new things, that’s why I’m going to Troy from another country half the earth away. I want to make myself become better and better.”
Troy’s assistant director of China Operations, Austin Deal said that this growth for the students, along with the blending of the cultures of two countries is the main goal of program.
“The young people of today will be the future business and political leaders of tomorrow” Deal said. “Since they have this opportunity to experience other cultures these students will go on to be the leaders. The U.S. and the Chinese, it’s a very interesting, sometimes tense relationship, so I think having exchanges like this between these two great countries is beneficial for both sides.”
The next event planned for the program is the Lunar New Year festival in February 2026.
