The National Central Library organized an event for a group of visiting scholars to participate in Dragon Boat Festival celebrations. The event took place at Bitan Riverside Park and Scenic Area in Xindian on June 6, and Tseng Shu-hsien, general director of the Library, led the activities. Along with over 40 visiting scholars and their families, Yue-Li Huang, director of the Department of Lifelong Education at the Ministry of Education, and Liwei Sun, deputy director of the Department of Policy Planning at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, were invited to experience the festivities by wrapping traditional zongzi and competing in dragon boat racing. Kuo Linju, section chief of the Department of International and Cross-strait Education at the Ministry of Education, and Huang Yushan, section chief of the Department of Policy Planning at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, also expressed their support for the event.

Every year over 140 visiting scholars are able to come to Taiwan due to the support offered by the “Research Grant for Foreign Scholars in Chinese Studies,” provided by the Center for Chinese Studies, and by the “MOFA Taiwan Scholarship.” Being an important holiday for Taiwanese society that takes place on the fifth day of the fifth month of the lunar calendar, Dragon Boat Festival allows visiting scholars to encounter traditional Taiwanese culture and to engage in international exchange. The Center has especially planned for this year’s activates to revolve around popular custom, sporting events, and the culinary arts by breaking into groups led by practiced individuals to take part in dragon boat racing and the wrapping of zongzi, all of which took place at the beautiful Bitan Riverside Park.