International youth explore poetic Chinese aesthetics

As brushes touched paper, participants were transported into the poetic world of China’s ancient scholars, where elegance and artistry intertwined. International students from Zhejiang University of Science and Technology, alongside American high schoolers from the 2025 “Smart Qiantang, Surging Hangzhou” Summer School, dove into a hands-on journey to experience the unique charm of Eastern aesthetics.
Last week, the fourth session of the Hangzhoufeel training series — Eastern Aesthetics and International Communication — co-hosted by the Hangzhou International Communication Center and ZUST, was held with great enthusiasm. The event featured Tang Kuan, Vice President of the Hangzhou Aesthetics and Art Research Association, and Zhou Ziqi, a Chinese painting instructor with extensive experience teaching international students. Together, they led a vibrant and engaging class that combined theory with practice, sparking the participants’ artistic sensibilities toward Eastern aesthetics.

What Is Chinese Calligraphy and Painting?

Modern Chinese Art as a Fusion of East and West

How can we better appreciate Chinese calligraphy and painting? What defines contemporary Chinese art? To help international students gain a deeper understanding of Chinese visual traditions, Professor Tang Kuan began by exploring the intersections between Eastern and Western art. Through the analysis of famous works by celebrated artists, students were immersed in a rich artistic atmosphere.

Painting the Lotus

Experiencing the Elegance of

Chinese Painting Through Practice

As July rolls around, Hangzhou’s lotus flowers peek out from behind emerald leaves — some just blooming while others remain hidden. Flowers, a staple of traditional Chinese painting, have appeared in the works of many great masters. For this workshop, Zhou Ziqi, a Chinese painting instructor with a master’s degree from the China Academy of Art, selected two iconic lotus-themed paintings to introduce different techniques in Chinese painting. First, she showed Lotus and Dragonfly by Qing dynasty painter Zhang Xiong, who used the mogu (aka boneless painting) technique— where shapes are rendered with color directly, without any ink outlines — to create his piece. In contrast, the Southern Song artist Wu Bing’s Lotus Emerging from Water is a gongbi painting, in which neat and detailed brush works are used to depict the object with precision.
After learning these two painting styles, students followed Professor Zhou’s guidance and practiced basic brush-holding and stroke techniques in preparation for their own creations.
Since the theme was the lotus, Professor Zhou began with a demonstration. She used the colors  “huaqing” (Prussian blue) and “tenghuang” (gamboge) to mix the green of the lotus leaves and diluted the red to make various shades of pink for the petals. Students were amazed to learn that such colors are created through careful proportioning. Professor Zhou’s masterful brushwork brought the petals to life on the page, quickly earning spontaneous applause.
After watching the demo, many students couldn’t wait to start painting. But once the brush hit the paper, they realized controlling the brush was much harder than it looked. Professor Zhou patiently went from table to table, guiding students on brush pressure and color control.
Despite being first timers, many students showed natural talent. After a few tries, vivid lotus flowers bloomed on the page. Some even branched out, painting their favorite designs— roses, maple leaves, peonies — all beautifully displayed with care and creativity on their fans.
Leslie Dong, a student from the United States, he was thrilled to recognize familiar names among the artists presented by Tang Kuan and thought traditional Chinese art was “very cool.” Having only taken one Chinese art class before on simplistic landscape painting, this in-depth experience left a lasting impression.
Alsabri Abdullah Abdulaziz Mohammed Saeed, an international student from Yemen, also shared his perspective on Chinese calligraphy: “Before, I only saw calligraphy used for writing names or simple words. But the pieces I saw today were much more complex and more importantly, they seem to carry a deeper meaning.” Though he initially found some works “messy,” this complexity intrigued him. “I don’t understand them, but I know these words mean something. I want to find out what it is. Even if I don’t get it yet, I’ll look them up and learn more about calligraphy— I think it’s very interesting”.
As part of the “Hangzhou, A Window to China's 5,000-year Civilization” event, the Hangzhoufeel training program continues to be launched by the Hangzhou International Communication Center. This series invites renowned experts and scholars across disciplines to explore international communication strategies, promote interdisciplinary research, and enhance global communication capacity. Eastern aesthetics is only the beginning — future workshops will bring even more innovative perspectives and hands-on activities, opening broader international horizons for all participants.
Source:Hangzhoufeel