SHENZHEN---PKUSZ held its annual thanksgiving dinner at the University Cafe on Thursday night, November 25, celebrating a popular festival, which attracted more than two hundred faculty, staff and students of diverse nationalities to attend.
Prof.Hai Wen, chancellor of PKUSZ, addressed the dinner, in which he stressed the importance of offering thanks to the giver whoever gave us a gift, be it our knowledge, encouragement or the most precious, life.
Prof. A.J. Baltes delivered a speech on Thanksgiving’s history and traditions. Thanksgiving was first celebrated in 1621，when the pilgrims had their first bountiful harvest after they came to America, the new continent. The custom of an annually celebrated thanksgiving, held after the harvest, continued through the years. In 1863 President Abraham Lincoln appointed a national day of thanksgiving. Since then each president has issued a Thanksgiving Day proclamation, usually designating the fourth Thursday of each November as the holiday. Now, Thanksgiving Day has become an important holiday in both America and Canada.
The dinner featured traditional holiday food such as mashed potato, sweet potato, salads, corn, and most important, turkey. Enjoying various delicacies and beverages, people ate, talked and danced the night away, making the University Café the most bustling and joyful place of the campus that night.
Farnoosh Famouri-Lee from the Chancellor's Secretariat Office did the preparations and arrangements while other volunteers from the International Department of the Graduate Student Union spared no efforts in helping. Their efforts and hard work made the event amazing and memorable. Let’s say thanks to them!
(Written by Gao Mei, photos taken by Yuan Mingfei from Nanyan News Agency)
