The Global Lounge is a campus venue that provides a physical space where international and local NTU students can meet face to face to experience each other's cultures. As the university continues its efforts to internationalize our campus, we welcome an ever-growing number of outstanding students from every corner of the world. Representing a myriad of world cultures, NTU's international students enrich our campus and classrooms, and provide opportunities for local students to expand their global outlooks by forming friendships with and learning about their classmates from around the world.

Every semester, the Global Lounge is ascene of numerous international cultural exchange activities. There are events featuring Taiwan's Chinese culture for local students to share the things they love about the culture of Taiwan with international students. Moreover, there are events highlighting the campus's growing cultural diversity, such as an international student club expo, an international culture festival, and a celebration of international traditional cultures, in which international students get to return the favor by showcasing the fascinating aspects of their own cultures.

One of this semester's events designed to introduce international students to Taiwanese culture was held on October 27. "A Night of Taiwanese Culinary Culture" was organized around an activity that gave the students the chance to wrap their own shui jiao(stuffed dumplings). Not only did this event allow the participants to sample a variety of tasty local dishes, it also offered a glimpse into the history and cultural aspects behind one of Taiwan's favorite foods. A total of 29 international students participated in the event.

After wrapping their shui jiao, the participants played a food game that promoted interaction between the international and local students and encouraged them to give free reign to their creativity. In addition, the organizers introduced the international students to a number of side dishes that traditionally accompany a meal of shui jiao. These included the classic tofu with century egg as well as wheat gluten and white dried tofu strips.

Chinese cuisine enjoys worldwide renown, and shui jiao is a quintessential part of Chinese cooking. Tourists from around the world travel to Taiwan every year to taste the delicious offerings of this kingdom of cuisine. The nation's countless restaurants and small eateries are not only intertwined with the daily lives of the people of Taiwan, they are also a direct reflection of her local culture.

By highlighting this connection between food and culture, "A Night of Taiwanese Culinary Culture" helped the international students gain a deeper appreciation of the prominence of food in Taiwanese culture.