“The ability to effectively interact in the Chinese language and culture has become a must for many future leaders of technology, science, industry, business, government, and nonprofit organizations,” said Jin Lui, who directs the Chinese program in the School, which is a unit of Georgia Tech’s Ivan Allen College of Liberal Arts.

Liu and her team brought the Chinese program to the foreground by hosting Chinese Day, on Thursday, September 12. This year’s event featured the Hisense Company, the most successful television retailer in China. Hisense’s U.S. representatives participated on a panel “Taste of China,” highlighting the experience of studying, interning, and working in China. They also spoke one-on-one with students about internship opportunities in both China and the U.S.

Panel participants also included the Georgia Tech Office of International Education Global Internship advisor, alumni of the China Language for Business and Technology program (LBAT), and recipients of Chinese Government Scholarships. This year’s event was the most successful yet, attracting guests from other institutions such as Georgia State University and Emory University.

“I enjoyed hearing people’s experiences on exchanges to China and what they learned abroad," said one student. “It was very informative to learn the differences between spending a summer abroad and spending an entire academic year from someone that had done both. It made it much easier to begin thinking about my study abroad options in regards to what type of experience abroad I want to have.”

Chinese Day is an annual celebration, highlighting the language, culture, and traditions that can be learned through studies at Georgia Institute of Technology.

This year’s event opened with a musical performance by the renowned Zhou Family Band, a Chinese folk group, playing traditional Chinese wind and percussion pieces for students, faculty, and staff. Small bites of authentic Chinese cuisine were sampled including dumplings, stir-fried Chinese broccoli with beef, sesame orange chicken, spicy mapo tofu, green beans with garlic, Yangzhou fried rice, chowmein with chashao BBQ pork.

The Chinese Day is sponsored by China Research Center, a regional academic organization to promote understanding of greater China through in-depth research and experience.