Written by: Patricia Menendez/ Assistant News Director
Chinese Club President, Ivan Jimenez, ate 19 dumplings in the dumpling eating competition at the first ever Chinese Cultural Festival hosted by the club on Friday, April 5.
“Initially it started out as an idea to promote the program at FIU,” Jimenez said. “We then thought of doing an event that is less formal, more casual and more fun. Something that actually starts promoting the [Chinese] arts and culture.”
The club purchased 1700 dumplings for about $1000 from the South Garden Chinese restaurant in Fort Lauderdale for the dumpling eating contest, according to Jimenez. They purchased the dumplings with the money from the University’s club funds.
The dumpling eating contest was the idea of Professor Ma Li. The first place winner received a diabolo yo yo, the second got a pair of chopsticks and the third won a set of fixed Chinese fans.
“Since I became president I wanted to make [the club] more fun,” Jimenez said to Student Media. “We find that the [Chinese] language is very critical nowadays and it is very important to learn about it.”
Attendees were able to take pictures at a Chinese-themed photo booth constructed by club members and play mah jong, a traditional Chinese tile-based game, in the designated game room. Jimenez said that the Chinese game is very similar to the hispanic game of dominoes.
A sin workshop also took place during the event, where attendees cut out pieces of Chinese magazines donated by the Confucius Institute, a non-profit public educational organization, and created photo collages.
Jimenez said that he got the idea from the French club and thought it was a good stimulant for creativity.
Along with the magazines, the Confucius Institute also lent the club pieces for the event’s art gallery.
The event was open to all FIU students and was held in the Graham Center’s Panther Suite from 3 p.m. to 6 p.m.