Recently, USTB students gathered at the 16th Persimmon Cultural Festival, a special annual event of USTB, with a large number of people in the Wuhuan square. After participating in seven interesting games, students successfully collected all the stickers and received persimmons prepared for them by the university.

This is the 16th consecutive year that the USTB has held this event, and the Student Union, together with the Property Management Section and the Food Services Section of Department of Facilities and Maintenance Management, sent exclusive gifts to the students of USTB. The persimmons distributed at the event were all persimmons grown and matured on the more than 40-year-old, 10-meter-tall persimmon trees along the library road of USTB and planted by the old recipe “warm water and white wine” inherited from the people of USTB to this day. “The Persimmon Cultural Festival is the warmest event I’ve ever attended at school!" A student said happily as he held a persimmon.

At the opening ceremony, Ms. WANG Li, Secretary General of the Communist Youth League Committee of USTB, gave a passionate speech, saying, “the Persimmon Cultural Festival is not only an activity, but also a good wish." “Persimmon” is the unique campus culture symbol of USTB. In the golden autumn, the persimmons hanging on the branches constructed a beautiful scenery line in the sky of USTB, attracting students to stop and enjoy the scene. The persimmon trees have witnessed the growth of generations and the changes of USTB, so the students have a deep affection towards persimmons. At the same time, in order to make full use of the characteristic resources on campus, enrich students’ campus cultural life, cultivate students’ passion for school and create a distinctive campus culture, the Student Union holds the Persimmon Cultural Festival every year to send the warmth of late autumn to the students.

After the energetic singing and dancing performance, Mr. ZHANG Dongping, Secretary General of the Party Committee of Department of Facilities and Maintenance Management, gifted persimmons to the winning classes. Students actively participated in various fun games, including fun shooting and dart throwing, exercises for eyesight and reflexes to “Find persimmons” and “Look at both sides”; sticky notes and fun interactions that send good hopes for the future; there was also a quiz on campus knowledge and garbage sorting prepared for the celebration of the university. Numerous students were attracted to the event and actively participated in it. By participating in these games, students could collect stickers and redeem persimmons after collecting all the stickers. In the process of participating in the games, students not only gained fun, but also felt the unique persimmon culture of USTB, and the new students had a deeper understanding of the university. The atmosphere at the scene was very happy and brought the students closer to each other.

According to Ms. JIA Wenjing, a council member of the Student Union, the opening ceremony of the Persimmon Cultural Festival will be the launching ceremony of the whole festival, through persimmon tasting, interesting persimmon games, and performances, thus leading every student of USTB to approach the persimmon culture of our school and the excitement of the Persimmon Cultural Festival. The festival will be followed by a cooking contest and other activities.

Ms. WANG Li said, “The annual ‘Persimmon Culture Festival’ is a traditional campus activity and a widely influential cultural event of the USTB Student Union. The festival aims to spread campus culture, enrich the daily life of students and teachers, help new students understand the persimmon culture, appreciate the heritage of USTB, and actively participate in school life. The festival also contains the good wishes to all students, we hope that students will have a deep memory here, and also let other universities in Beijing know the unique persimmon culture of our university in every autumn. We will continue to innovate the content and activities to bring warmth to students, let students feel the care of USTB - another home, create a warm and tender campus cultural atmosphere, and provide a good campus cultural environment for students’ healthy growth!"

Next year will be the 70th anniversary of USTB, and the 16^th Persimmon Cultural Festival has added more elements about the anniversary to warm up for the celebration. The persimmons have witnessed the progress and growth of USTB students from generation to generation, and the persimmons also contain the good wishes.